Every now and then, I get to talk to my students about video games. They've all played Battlefield and Call of Duty, and the conversations always veer toward the latest Halo, Grand Theft Auto, or whatever big sequel is coming out. But when I bring up Batman: Arkham Asylum or its follow-up, Batman: Arkham City, I always hear the same old thing. "I’ve heard it’s great, but I haven’t tried it yet."

These games aren't great. Developer Rocksteady made something truly awesome here, and you don't have to take my word for it, either. Both have aggregate scores in the low/mid 90s on Metacritic.

Part of the blame probably goes to the multiplayer-obsessed era of gaming we’re in, but mainly, I think a lot of people steer clear of the Caped Crusader specifically because it's both a licensed game and it features a superhero. Either would be a pretty convincing warning sign.

That's a shame, because these games made a great and very influential contribution to this gaming generation. Here's how.

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Here's my take on a high-definition version of Star Fox's Arwing fighter.

Maybe we'll see something like this (but probalbly better) in the near future. My fingers are crossed!

Follow the jump for some more shots.

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If you’re playing Resident Evil 6, BioShock, or any Modern Warfare title, stop and pause the game for a second.

Do you feel someone holding your hand? Does it seem like that person is pushing you toward your goal?

Hit start and return to the game. Take a look around as you battle your way to your objective.

You see it? That big arrow? That target?

Yeah, it’s that reoccurring and seemingly in-demand destination pointer.

I’ve seen them in in the Call of Duty franchise. And that was OK. I didn’t mind being told where the goal was. The games presented straightforward campaigns.

BioShock featured something similar. The arrow, working like a compass, helped me figure out where to go next, but at the same time, it didn’t help me get past the threats that plagued me along the way.

Recently, I took a stab at the Resident Evil 6 public demo. And once again, this GPS thingy was lurking around in Capcom’s latest survival-horror adventure.

Why is it needed?

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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 look at the future of The Secret World, admire the beauty of accidental narratives, give a shout-out to turtling, and more. Join us!

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The Secret World could be free-to-play
By Alexander Kraus

You already know how I feel about conspiracy-driven MMO The Secret World; I don't think going free-to-play would change my mind about the game, but Alexander's analysis is astute. Good point about Age of Conan, too.

Why turtling is awesome
By Trevor Hinkle

Turtling, in case you don't know, is the art of playing defensively in a strategy game and waiting for the right time to strike. I'm horrible at it. (I'm horrible at most strategy games.) But Trevor extols the tactic's virtues here. "There’s a certain gratification found in surviving a seemingly endless onslaught of enemies and be rescued by an evacuation shuttle or a friendly ship, and it never gets old," he writes.

The beauty of unintended stories
By Maciej Peterson

I enjoy a good linear narrative, but sometimes, the best stories are the ones you make yourself. Maciej supports this in his description of his adventures in Skyrim. "This is a simple story, but what makes it special is that it's unlikely that Bethesda intended for it to exis," he says.

Upgrading the upgrades genre
By Alexander Kraus

Alexander's second contribution this week describes a type of casual game I hadn't heard of, which he calls the "upgrades genre." He writes: "I like RPGs for the purpose of developing a character through time, so upgrade genres appeal to me. However, the game designer part of me thinks that this genre is more tedious work than engaging gameplay found in other grind-heavy games like Torchlight." Interesting.

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Last Thursday morning, many gamers and game journalists (myself included) rushed to their computers to watch Nintendo’s Wii U livestream in which it would finally reveal the system’s North American launch date and price, as well as shed light on the next-gen console’s features and upcoming games. 

Of course, we were all happy to learn of the November 18 launch date for both Wii U models, and it was nice to catch a closer look at titles like New Super Mario Bros. U, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, The Wonderful 101, and Zombi U. Nintendo also announced a feature called TVii that brings more multimedia options to the system. I know TVii wasn’t received very well by some people, but Nintendo does have to compete with Microsoft and Sony’s established features, and the tech behind it is pretty spiffy.

That was the way thing were going until bullets flew, swords clanged, high-heels clicked, and the moon shined bright in the announcement trailer for Bayonetta 2. A sequel that fans have been waiting years for had finally crawled its way out of development hell and was confirmed for a major console release.  

Unfortunately, once the gun smoke of the teaser cleared, Nintendo was named as the game’s publisher ... making it a Wii U exclusive. Actually, that’s not the unfortunate part (at least from my perspective), it’s the Pandora’s Box of “popular opinion” it managed to open.

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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.

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It’s hard to believe that Kirby is 20 years old now. The deceptively cute puffball brought a tremendous amount of whimsy to 8-and-16-bit consoles in the early ‘90s, and despite his games coming off as somewhat simple, the series has a strong following. But his career hasn’t been an easy one, and unfortunately the anniversary compilation Nintendo released to celebrate Kirby’s impressive lifespan highlights perhaps the lowest point for the pre-GameCube franchise: Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

The Nintendo 64 is my least favorite system to date, so that likely colors my opinion of Kirby 64. I feel it was an ambitious console for Nintendo, but the company’s refusal to abandon the cartridge format was a detriment to the hardware’s capabilities.

Kirby 64’s biggest problems aren’t hardware related, though. Between the Super Nintendo and the 64, Kirby underwent a horrible transformation. The whimsy in Dreamland was stripped down to base components and flat textures, and Kirby no longer put on adorable hats whenever he swallowed enemies to emulate their abilities. Instead, Kirby turns into a legless fireball and even rips off his own face to throw it like a boomerang.

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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!

BYOT Episode 1: Gaming’s good, bad, and downright crappy of 2012 (so far)
Guests: GamesBeat writers/editors Dean Takahashi, Sebastian Haley, and Jason Wilson

BYOT Episode 2: The comedians of the gaming world
Guests: Cracked.com/EGM's Seanbaby, former comic Sheila Bryson, and Wackygamer.tv's Jeff Reitman

BYOT Episode 3: The 8-bit era of gaming
Guests: Wired.com's Chris Kohler, Gaijin Games' Alex Neuse, and Kabam's Andy Alamano

Thank you for listening (if in fact, that's what you're doing)!

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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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Last week, Nintendo unveiled a slew of details about its upcoming Wii U console. Here’s the important stuff:

There will be two versions available: The base $300 model (which comes with the system, a GamePad, and a few other things you need to get started), and the deluxe $350 model. The more expensive option tosses in a copy of Nintendo Land, a bigger hard drive, and a few more goodies.

The Wii U is going to have processing power similar to the PS3 and Xbox 360, which means it’s getting a ton of third-party titles including Assassin’s Creed III, Batman: Arkham City -- Armored Edition, Black Ops II, and Darksiders II.

Nintendo TVii is a new feature that will ship with all consoles and be free to use, giving you the ability to direct streaming services to the GamePad, even if someone else is using the main TV. This includes Hulu, Netflix, and even your DVR.

So where does that leave the skeptics?

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When I was a kid, I always loved when some real-world annoyance, like my dog whining to go out before she just gives up and pees on the floor, distracted me from my game long enough to trigger an idle animation. Sure, they don't really contribute to gameplay, but these little moments help sell the 8-bit characters' personalities. Just think of Sonic and his classic foot-tapping.

So, if you're looking for something to do, you could do worse than a montage of classic idle animations. Enjoy!

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