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I sat down with Josh, Chris, and Jarenth and we discussed BioShock Infinite at length. It should go without saying, but just in case you’re intuition-impaired: This podcast will feature complete and total spoilers for all aspects of the game.
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No timestamps for this one. The discussion is mostly freeform.
As promised, here is the screenshot I mentioned in the discussion:
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast Special: BioShock Infinite”
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This episode was recorded at the tail end of a long session that included a podcast. We were all pretty ragged by this point, which is why we were so quiet until everything went wrong.
Thinking more about the level-size problem:
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Dishonored EP12: Your Score is Apple”
We waste a bunch of time looking up a safe combination in this episode. It’s not bad, unless you know ahead of time that the code is 4-7-3. If you knew that, then it would be really frustrating to watch. My advice? It’s probably best to not know that the code is 4-7-3 when you watch it.
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I looked. I couldn’t find the bridge dive video Chris mentioned.
EDIT: Here’s one!
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On the upside, the podcast is proving to be really popular. On the downside, we seem to be slipping on our production of Spoiler Warning videos. Oops.
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Show notes:
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #7: Piracy, APB Reloaded 2, and Activision’s Face”
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My column this week is a rant about Samantha, the damsel in distress of the new Tomb Raider game.
It was really temping to contrast Samantha with Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite, but I was afraid of doing cross-game comparisons that would likely get sidetracked into a frustrating “game X is superior to game Y” debate and confuse rather than illuminate the issue.
My other major issue with the new Tomb Raider is it fondness for cutscene incompetence. Just about every cutscene involves Lara doing something really stupid or reckless. The writers also LOVE the use of off-screen space to poof in bad guys. There’s more than one situation where Lara seems be be alone, then a cutscene happens and someone punches her unconscious from just offscreen.
Having all of your cutscenes deliver setbacks by having the player character perpetrate awful blunders is a great way to make the player hate either the writer or their avatar. I realize these problems are nothing new to videogames, but they are problems that really grate on me because they seem to be the offspring of laziness and bad habits.
Dear people of the future: This was originally posted on April 1st, 2013. For about 12 hours, the site was decorated with a My Little Pony background. In fact, the site looked more or less like this:
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Ha ha.
But a lot of people really liked having some color in the background there, which had previously been some low-contrast abstract grey rectangles. I like it too. Ironic pony-placement aside, it does add something to the site. Of course, maybe I like it just because it’s new. I get the same thing with my desktop wallpaper. After a few weeks of the same image I get sick of it, and whatever replaces it looks “better” simply because it’s novel, not because it’s objectively a better image.
So I’ve put some color on the background in the form of more thematically-themed dice. You know, as a nod to those tabletop games I’m always writing about on this site.
Some other modest adjustments have been made to the format. Let me know if I’ve created any usability problems.
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We talked about running a tabletop game in this episode, which means I’ve paid the topic my annual lip service and can therefore go on calling this site “Twenty Sided” with a straight face. So that’s our obligation to tabletop coverage for this year. Tune in next year when, in a moment of distraction, I mention that I’m using my D&D 3.5 manual to prop up a crooked table leg.
I'm a very casual fan of the series, but I gave Civilization VI a look to see what was up with this nuclear war simulator.
Let's do some scripting to make the Starcraft AI fight itself, and see how smart it is. Or isn't.
Let's count up the ways in which Bethesda has misunderstood and misused the Fallout property.
What was the problem with the Playstation 3 hardware and why did Sony build it that way?
Why make millions on your video game when you could be making HUNDREDS on frivolous copyright claims?
How did this niche racing game make a gameworld so massive, and why is that a big deal?
Game developer Jon Blow is making a programming language just for games. Why is he doing this, and what will it mean for game development?
This is a horrible narrative that undermines the hobby through crass stereotypes. The hobby is vast, gamers come from all walks of life, and you shouldn't judge ANY group by its worst members.
I'm not surprised a fighting game has an absurd story. I just can't figure out why they bothered with the story at all.
People fault EA for being greedy, but their real sin is just how terrible they are at it.
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