Category: Maintenance

GamerSushi Returns

Hey.

GamerSushi has sputtered back to life this week after over a year’s absence. I’m not entirely sure exactly what spurred us back into action, but the crew has been talking in Slack for quite some time about getting this whole thing going again and earlier this week we just decided to go for it.

We’re not 100% on what GamerSushi will consist of going forward. Because we’re all in such different places now, GamerSushi won’t have a set schedule like the past and we may throw in a post or two about topics other than video games. A podcast has been talked about but we don’t have an ETA on that either, although it’s looking fairly certain at this point. Continue reading GamerSushi Returns

GamerSushi is on Indefinite Hiatus

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Hello again, Sushians,

No bones about it, the pace around here has been mighty slow. As Summer came to a close, plans to get the GamerSushi Show and the website back on track were talked about, but never materialized. Unfortunately our lives have changed quite a bit in the past few months meaning that we don’t have nearly as much time to dedicate to GamerSushi as we’d like.

The crew are still emailing regularly and playing games (we did our first Vault of Glass run in Destiny this past Saturday!) so there’s no need to worry about a falling out. We’re simply stepping back from regular GS contributions. Plans are in the works to make a send-off podcast so you can get one more hit of TGS.

Sorry about the radio silence, but we’ve been trying to figure out what to do with GamerSushi since our Summer break and nothing has really stuck. If things change we’ll let you know but for now we’re letting GamerSushi rest for a bit.

GamerSushi User Accounts

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Due to some recent security issues we’ve experienced with the site, I’ve deleted all existing GamerSushi “subscriber” user accounts and have turned off the registration option.

Don’t worry, though – all of your comments are still in our system, and you can enter new comments by logging in with Twitter, Facebook or a wordpress.com user account (or without logging in at all if that’s what you prefer). I haven’t found any evidence that your login information was taken, but if you were using the same ID and password on another site, it can’t hurt to change your password. Sorry for any confusion!

Back to your regularly scheduled programming…

PSN Returning with Two Free Games

PSN LogoIn case you didn’t notice, Playstation Network has begun its return. It seems that the resurrection of the downed PSN kicks off with a Customer Appreciation program leading the way. Once the PSN Store is back up and running you can snag yourself two free games from a list of several titles (within the first 30 days) such as Little Big Planet, inFAMOUS and Super Stardust HD. I personally will pick up Little Big Planet and inFAMOUS. You can check out more Q&A about the PSN restoration here.

There are some other bonuses too, including some “on us” movie rentals, and some PSN Plus time as well. It’s all a fairly gracious package from Sony to try to smooth things over, but there are obviously going to be people that come down on both sides of this. Does two free games and a “we’re sorry” make up for the time lost and possible personal information damage? What are your thoughts on the whole issue? Still trust Sony?

Source – Playstation Blog

Go Behind the Scenes of Halo: Reach’s Deliver Hope

The most recent of the Halo live action trailers, Deliver Hope for Halo:Reach was a pretty decent affair, featuring a lot of firsts for the commercials such as live action Spartans and Elites, among other things. Microsoft recently put up a behind the scenes video for Deliver Hope that delves into all the work that went into making this trailer a reality:

I always appreciate these kinds of sneak peeks, but seeing a man don Kat’s armor kind of ruined it for me. Also, note how they only show snippets of the Elite costume but never give us a look at the whole thing in motion. Overall, it’s still a pretty cool video showing the making of one of the most elaborate commercials of all time.

Tell Us We’re Wrong: Re-Rate Our Reviews

crackdown 2Normally you guys are pretty accepting of our review scores; there’s some mumbling and grumbling when we rate things a little too high or low, but it’s usually pretty mellow. I know under all that patience is a bubbling crock-pot of hate, ready to come bursting from your finger tips like magma from a volcano. This is the opportunity for you, the GamerSushi community, to give your opinion and re-rate our reviews.

We’ve been talking internally about changing around some scores for a while now, and, as Eddy mentioned on the podcast, the further we get into a given year the more some titles stand out or fade away. For example, I kind of want to change Alan Wake to a B and bump Red Dead Redemption up to an S. Alan Wake sort of fell apart in the last bit and didn’t have that much content compared to this year’s other big A games. Conversely, Red Dead offered so much and was a fantastic looking engaging game. As time has gone by, I’ve forgiven the control and ending issues I had, and I’m kind of regretting my score.

So, we pose the question to you guys: which review scores would you change? Remember to give your reasons, and we’ll take this into consideration in the future. Go!

Update: GamerSushi Grade Chart

Along with the fresh coat of paint for the site, you may have noticed a few other updates around the house as well. One of those is an update to ye olde GamerSushi grade chart, which explains the way our review system works, and gives a few examples of where games tend to fall on the scale. It’s mostly the same in terms of content, but with a few extra details to help distinguish between the grades. Nick did a killer job of it, and I’m kind of in love with it.

We’ve been kicking around our grade system a little bit lately, and we’re of the belief that over the course of time we’ll continue to make tweaks and find better ways to look at games. I really like the way we do it right now, and I think the new grade chart is a nice refinement.

Anyway, take a look at it after the jump or head over to the grade chart page. Continue reading Update: GamerSushi Grade Chart

Welcome to GamerSushi 2.0

Hello, you beautiful gamers. As you can see, GamerSushi is different. We were hoping to get this done for our 2nd birthday, but hey, we’re close enough, right? It’s kind of like that Monkey Ball game. The one that’s like ski ball, but with monkeys. The point is, we still get points.

For the most part, things are the same, but with a few notable differences: first and foremost, the sliding feature bar, which highlights the most recent features. I dig it. In addition, there’s the new “browse by system” bar, plus we’ve made the podcasts and older features more accessible in the top navigation. You’ll also notice the rotating podcast reviews banner in the top right hand corner, with user reviews on each one. So, review the podcast on iTunes, and you just might get your quote up there, too.

Anyway, I’ll let you see everything else for yourself. Be sure to give muchos props to Jeff and Nick for all the hard work they did over the last two weeks on this. Personally, I think they crushed it, in the best possible way. Feel free to leave your own feedback below!

Update: Apparently the site is having some issues in Internet Explorer 7, and it obscures the log-in box for users, so you haven’t been able to tell us if you’re on that version and having that problem. First of all, why are you using that browser, you crazy person? Second, we’re working on a fix for later tonight. The site seems fine in other browsers, including IE8. So if you are one of the random few affected, just fix your life and upgrade.

Update 2: This is now fixed. You should still upgrade, though.

PAX 2010 Photo Roll

PAX 2010So, if you’ve read my PAX 2010 round up, then you’d know that I visited a fair few booths over the past few days. Just like E3 before it, PAX was an opportunity for the developers of the various titles on display to overwhelm our senses with giant facades dedicated to the grandeur of the event. Since not everyone can go to PAX for various reasons, I thought I would bring my camera along and snap a few photos. Perhaps you might spot my photobomb. Hit the jump for shots of the exhibit! Click on the photos to enhugenate. Continue reading PAX 2010 Photo Roll

Off to PAX Prime!

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As we’re probably all aware, being fans of video game culture and what not, PAX Prime 2010 is set to kick off this Friday down in beautiful Seattle, Washington. Since I live about four hours and one country away from Seattle, I thought I would take this opportunity to finally go to the Penny Arcade Expo, something I’ve been dying to do for a few years now. It’s actually kind of funny that GamerSushi started off with Eddy and Smooth Few Film’s Daniel (who is not Anthony), going to PAX with Leet World DVDs in hand.

Since I’m going to be reporting diligently on all the news and cool stuff coming out of PAX, I thought I’d take this opportunity to ask you, the community, if there’s anything in particular you’d like me to keep an eye out for. Halo: Reach and The Old Republic are a given, but are there any other games you’d like me to try and get hands-on time with? I’m bringing down a camera as well, so I’ll try and upload pictures of the show floor and the various cosplayers. So, do you have any requests? Put them in the comment section below.

Two Years of GamerSushi

portal-cakeThere’s an old saw that I think we all know that goes “time flies when you’re having fun”, and I can’t think of anything more fun than video games. Seriously, it’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since GamerSushi started, because it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long. Granted, I’ve only been posting on the site since last year, starting with the Battlefield 1943 PC delay, but I was commenting on the site before that.

I’m sure most of us came here from Smooth Few Films, but I don’t think that any of us could have predicted the cool community that would have grown around a few dudes talking about games. Honestly, this site has had some of the best discussion on the theory around gaming that I can think of, mostly because we take the time to read each others thoughts and we don’t get buried in a sea of fanboy-centric comments. We may disagree at times, but we’re all united in a love of gaming.

So, thanks to you guys for sticking around for two years, and thanks to Eddy, Nick, Jeff and Anthony for starting this website and keeping it going. It’s been an awesome ride so far, and there are definitely cool things on the horizon!

What about you guys? Any awesome discussions you remember, or a post that you really liked? Keep in mind that this is our birthday, so you’re allowed to shower us with praise.

GamerSushi Asks: Give Us Your Feedback!

Every now and then, we like to see what you guys think about how things are going on the site, because ultimately, this place is about the community here and how we all interact. I think enough time has passed since the last time we did this, so I wanted to ask the question again: care to give us some feedback?

Here are some questions to consider:

1. What kinds of features would you like to see more of?
2. How often do you check this site?
3. What would you like to see more coverage of (within reason, of course)?
4. Do you want more/less updates?
5. What would make this place even more awesome?

Seriously, we’d love to hear what you guys think. Don’t be afraid to leave some criticism, as long as it is constructive. We’re all about making this place even better. We have some cool ideas for the future, and Nick is already working on a new layout that will really put the cool discussions you guys create front and center, with almost equal value to the posts themselves.

So, let’s hear it. Go!

Submit Your Podcast Questions!

PodcastOK, a week has gone by since our last super awesome podcast. Granted, it was mostly awesome because Mitch wasn’t present, but that’s beside the point. We’re working on phasing him out for you guys, but it’s a slow and painful process. I kid! Maybe.

Anyway, we’ll be recording a brand new edition of the GamerSushi Show this weekend, and like last time, we want some user submitted topics. These were great fun for us to riff on, and if you listened to most of the bit, you’ll notice that most of the show was dedicated to the awesome questions we got, to the point that we had to skip out on a few of them.

So, if your question was skipped over last time, or if you have a new one, feel free to re-submit that here and hopefully we’ll have a chance to discuss it this weekend. Thanks dudes!

A New GamerSushi Feature Approaches, Send Us Your Questions and Topics!

As you guys know, we here at GamerSushi are all about community, and we feel like we’ve got a pretty good back and forth going. How it’s been working so far, though, is that we pose questions to you guys in the form of posts and features, and then you tell us what you think. We have thought about mixing this up a little, and for an upcoming feature, we’d like you guys to ask us the questions or give us topics you’d like to hear us discuss.

It’s simple enough, just drop your suggestions in the comments, and we’ll pick a few and have the GS staff riff on them for a bit. Any ones we don’t get to this time around, we’ll go over in the next installment. Try to keep it video game related, and fire away!

Introducing: GamerSushi Reviews Page

premiereWell, aren’t we fancy? We just keep adding these features, don’t we? Soon, you’ll all revolt, longing to go back to the “GamerSushi that was”…

But until then, enjoy the brand spanking new GamerSushi Reviews page, which compiles all of our reviews in an easy-to-browse manner. This should hopefully be helpful in the future as we continue to add more games. Much thanks to JJ, who really killed it with putting the layout together.

In terms of more functionality and updating, we’ve got more stuff we’re working on for the near future with GamerSushi. Any other features you would love to see on this site? What do you think of the review page? Go!

The Twitter Initiative

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Good news, everyone! Thanks to a temporal rift that caused a fluctuation in the space time continuum, I’m happy to announce that GamerSushi now has a Twitter account. You can follow GamerSushi on Twitter by clicking on the link contained within this sentence.

Also, because this is as good a time to remind you guys as any, those of you wishing to have a little Avatar pop up in your posts instead of that blank picture need to go to Gravatar and sign up for an account. Just remember to use the same email for that service as you did for this website, and everything should be hunky-dory.

What are you still doing here? Go follow us!

GamerSushi Asks: On Reviews?

grade-sheetOne of the things we strive for here at GamerSushi is to include you guys and keep this as democratic as possible (within reason of course) in order to make this an awesome community. As you all know, one of the things we do here is review games, most often the bigger titles that are hitting the market.

So, in regards to our reviews, I have a few questions. The first one: what do you guys think of our rubric? While it used to please us, lately we’ve been having some issues with it. For instance, a few months back, I gave Resident Evil 5 an A instead of an A+ simply because by our rubric, it wasn’t “one of the greatest games of all time”. However, looking back, I still desperately want to give it an A+, rubric be damned.

That’s just one small example out of the many, but I think something about our rubric is what’s making most of our game scores fall in the B+ to A range. I’d like to fix this however possible, and we’re open to suggestions from you guys. I’m convinced that letter grades are the best thing to do, but I’m ready to hear out other thoughts.

Second question: what do you guys think of us going back and permanently adjusting review scores? I know that in some communities, the site gets vilified for changing scores, but personally, I think that more sites ought to go back and re-evaluate games months after the fact. Off the top of my head, I think that I scored Gears of War 2, Left 4 Dead and Metal Gear Solid 4 all far too high, and would like to change them.

So, tell us your thoughts on those. We’re gearing up for some changes around here (hence the less frequent posts over the last few weeks), so there will be more of these kinds of questions coming. Go!

Happy New Year!

newyearWell, a new year is coming upon us, and let’s hope that 2009 is just as good for gaming as 2008 was. To be honest, while there were a lot of great games that have dropped on us in the past few months, I don’t know if there were any standout titles that left me proclaiming “greatest game evar!!”, though there were quite a few that I did love.

Anthony and I wanted to say thanks for hanging out around here and reading our goofy thoughts on video games, as well as sharing your own back with us. I have to be honest, I check this site more than SFF, which I know is how many of you found this cool gaming nook. I think we’ve got a sweet community here, and I’m a huge fan of the discussions we get going.

Continue reading Happy New Year!

The GamerSushi Grading Rubric

As you know, we’ve started to review games here on GamerSushi. Every now and then, we’re looking to post some of our thoughts about the games we’ve beaten, and then rating them based on our experiences. Hopefully, you’ll find this to be a well thought out feature that we do, and trust us, a lot of thought has gone into the process.

Here’s a handy chart that will let you know what we mean by our letter grades of games. Props to our bud Nick (the great bearded one) for coming up with this. I kind of heart it alot. Click on the thumbnail to view it.

Let us know what you think!