At first I mistook this for a table scene. There weren’t any easily identifiable objects in the foreground to give a sense of scale. But it’s big:
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I am constantly impressed at how much effort nerds put into finding really, really inconvenient ways to play chess.
Note, this week’s column was written last night, before Blizzard changed its mind (partly) about Real ID.
Clearly they saw me coming and retreated. I’m fearsome that way.
Here is another dig at the plot of Resident Evil 5.
Read the comic then come back. Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Stolen Pixels #210: The Business Plan”
If you’re playing the Spoiler Warning drinking game, then you might want to go ahead and put yourself on the waiting list for liver transplant before you hit play.
Hello, person from the future. This space used to have an embed from the video hosting site Viddler. The video is gone now. If you want to find out why and laugh at Viddler in the process, you can read the entire silly story for yourself. At any rate, the video is gone. Sorry. On the upside, we're gradually re-posting these old videos to YouTube. Check the Spoiler Warning page to see the full index. |
I’d intended to point this out during the episode, but of course the conversation got all confused like it always does and I forgot:
What about the slave collars when you free the kids? The game goes out of its way to show that your slave collar will detonate if you run. Fine, fine. But then the game forgets all about this and everyone just runs off with no problem. What’s the deal with these collars? Are they proximity based? Or are they detonated manually by one of the slave owners?
There are fences and armed guards to keep the slaves in check, so the story doesn’t need the collars to justify their imprisonment. It’s just another element of the world that’s established, forgotten about, and then contradicted, leaving nagging questions or plot holes.
Also, as Josh mentioned, we are now recording in W I D E S C R E E N! What he doesn’t mention because we didn’t know it until now, is that Viddler is crap and doesn’t recognize the widescreen-ness of the video. It insists on mooshing it down to some other aspect ratio, and no degree of fussing with the embedded player size can correct this. Boo.
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All good things must come to and end. The same goes for stupid things.
A bit about the story after the jump… Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Shamus Plays LOTRO: The Final Chapter”
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Chris Redfield is a Villain. I can prove it.
I am enjoying Resident Evil 5 a lot more than I did RE4, although that’s mostly because I’m less frustrated going in. For me, Resident Evil 4 was an interesting case of a game being ruined by incorrect expectations.
I didn’t play console games at all in the 90’s. I played PC games all the way. (Not that I ever took part in the “PC vs. console” debate, an argument so childish it should be sent to its room, forever.) I just didn’t have a console and didn’t care to. I missed basically everything between the Atari and the Playstation 2, aside from dabbling with them when visiting friends.
Once I started playing console games, someone handed me Resident Evil 4 and told me it was awesome and that I would love it. I had just played Silent Hill 2 and it had blown my mind, so I was looking forward to another experience like that. I mean, they’re both survival horror, right?
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Stolen Pixels #209: Please Let Me Arrest You”
Yet another instance of this open world game oppressing you with its tyrannical railroad plot.
Hello, person from the future. This space used to have an embed from the video hosting site Viddler. The video is gone now. If you want to find out why and laugh at Viddler in the process, you can read the entire silly story for yourself. At any rate, the video is gone. Sorry. On the upside, we're gradually re-posting these old videos to YouTube. Check the Spoiler Warning page to see the full index. |
Usually we feign annoyance for comic effect. This time I think the annoyance might have been a little bit genuine in a couple of places. Whoopsie.
Sometimes in-game secrets are fun and sometimes they're lame. Here's why.
It seems like a simple question, but it turns out everyone has a different idea of right and wrong in the digital world.
This Korean title would be the greatest MMO ever made if not for the horrendous monetization system. And the embarrassing translation. And the terrible progression. And the developer's general apathy towards its western audience.
Which would you rather be: A king in the middle ages, or a lower-income laborer in the 21st century?
No, brutal, soul-sucking, marriage-destroying crunch mode in game development isn't a privilege or an opportunity. It's idiocy.
Remember the superhero MMO from 2009? Neither does anyone else. It was dumb. So dumb I was compelled to write this.
I was trying to make fun of how Silent Hill had lost its way but I ended up making fun of fighting games. Whatever.
No, self-aware robots aren't going to turn on us, Skynet-style. Not unless we designed them to.
The Thieves Guild quest in Skyrim is a vortex of disjointed plot-holes, contrivances, and nonsense.
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.
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