Category Archives: Games

Digital Rights Mangling

Spore.

It’s a game designed by Wil Wright, who’s the guy who designed the Sims. You may have known that.

Here’s something you may not have known:  He did not design The Sims 2, and is not designing The Sims 3.

That’s because game publishers like to keep the designer’s names off of the retail boxes.  This is so that if the development team ever loses a “big name,” they can continue to publish sequels without the mainstream public knowing about the loss of an important member of the development team.

It would be like a Star Wars movie without George Lucas, although this is a bad example, considering that movie would probably rock.

Anyway, back to Spore.  You may have heard of it.  It’s got a one star rating on Amazon.

Why?  Well, I like to see it as an educational campaign about DRM and Securom, instead of ratings bombing spam. Continue reading

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LFG Ponzi Scheme

I finished World of WarCraft a couple of years ago.  The end boss wasn’t too bad, you just had to remove your credit card info and wait a month, then you beat the game.

There were numerous reasons why I left.  The core audience just wasn’t anything I was willing to put up with.  The main reason was that I was just not willing to put in the extra forty hours a week to keep up with my friends, the people I would have wanted to play with.

I recall that when I was playing, it was difficult to get up level 60.  It was an event.  I mean, you got there and you took screenshots and opened a bottle of champagne because you earned it.

Now, not so much.  Especially with the pyramid scheme they have going on. Continue reading

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The Wii is Family Friendly

I watched Grindhouse.

Yes, both movies.  Although I did prefer Rodriguez’s Planet Terror to Quentin’s Sex in the City Deathproof.

That said, I think that the trailer for House of the Dead: Overkill is a joy to watch.

Best line of the trailer:

They’ve come for brains.  You will give them. . .  Bullets.

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Kind of crazy

Had this on the back burner for a while, but I decided to just go ahead and post it.

Here’s a quick video highlight of how Eye of Judgment works on a technical level. Pretty seamless overall, however the gameplay ultimately leaves something to be desired unless you’re playing with someone else.
Continue reading

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The appeal of Rock Band

Rock Band, appeals because of its cooperative gameplay.  You can play just one instrument, but that isn’t the point.  In all, it is when you are in a room with three other people, performing a song is where the game truly comes into its core experience.

Yeah, we rocked out again tonight.

I’m hoping for groupies at some point.

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