In our chosen hobby of playing video games, it is fair to say that the Internet is a major component. And the internet is good at several things, but the thing it excels at more than any other is buzz. Nothing gets word moving faster than the InterGoogle and game companies and fanboys alike take advantage of this. But hype comes in more forms than that.
Let’s take a look at Halo 3. It had the kind of buzz reserved for a major box office movie. When I saw all the cross-promotional tie-ins, I started to wonder if Bungie was being run by George Lucas. I mean, seriously: Halo energy drinks?
I saw so many commercials and trailers and ads with Master Chief pleading with me to finish the fight that I honestly was ready to join the Covenant.
Continue reading How Does Hype Affect You?
It’s a special weekend here in America. A sacred one, if you will. You see, there’s this thing called football, and apparently a big showdown is happening tonight that we are all going to stop and marvel at. By the way, go Steelers.
I’m not sure how many of you played Prince of Persia, but I’m going to give the tiniest of spoilers here, so watch out. While I won’t go into much detail, there really isn’t a true ending to the game, as everything you worked hard to do is essentially undone in the game’s “resolution”. Many people were upset about this, though I guess a few got into it and found it artsy and well done. 
For me, one of the coolest parts of finishing an open world game such as Grand Theft Auto IV or Crackdown or Fallout 3, is the ability to continue on around the world after everything is said and done. Especially in RPGs, where there might even be loads of sidequests yet to complete, so that you can truly experience all that the game you purchased has to offer. 
Besides whatever narcotics he puts into his system to give him wild visions and convoluted storylines, Hideo Kojima is inspired primarily by movies. I mean, the fact that nobody told him that Metal Gear Solid 4 was not actually a video game past Act 2 is quite plain to see, and the man clearly has some directorial chops. 
You all know of my love for Mass Effect and its awesomely epic sci-fi space opera ways. As I’ve said before, it’s one of the more underrated games of this generation, and deserves a spot right near the top of the heap because of its excellent story telling, something that not many games do that well to begin with. 
A few days ago, I beat Metal Gear Solid 4, excited about having finished the game. I figured, hey, I’ll go to bed after this is over. Having heard it was long, I estimated that this would be about 20 or 30 minutes later, and I would be tucked away and dreaming after seeing Snake & Co’s fate. Boy, was I wrong. The ending was nearly an hour and a half long. Leaving me tired and disheveled at work the next day.
We all know that Square-Enix has taken its sweet time on the last couple of Final Fantasy games, most notably Final Fantasy XIII. While many gamers were under the impression that it was coming to the US and Europe in 2009 (it hits in Japan later this year), that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Apparently, there are rumors that GTA V might drop as soon as 
Last year, EA surprised much of the gaming world with several brand new titles that showed innovation and style, opening gamers up to the possibility that the company had turned over a new leaf. One of those titles was Mirror’s Edge, the first person platformer that puts you behind the eyes and in the shoes of Faith, a runner in a future dystopia. She climbs rooftops and leaps across alleys, and you control it all from her point of view.
Ever since Halo claimed the console FPS throne, several games have come and gone to try to take the title “Halo Killer”. As if all of FPS-dom were some huge hill that could be overtaken, and fans would automatically shift their allegiances to this new god-like app with the ability to fell Master Chief and his minions.