Category: Random

Would You Rather: Plot Edition

You guys keep asking for it, and because I’m a softy and I like you, we keep bringing it. It’s time for another Would You Rather. What we’ve been doing on the last few outings is focusing in on a specific genre, keying in on features to see what your gaming preferences are. I’ve said it before, but I love the responses that these things get, so I wanted to get a feel for how you guys lean when it comes to stories and plot in the world of video games.

For the uninitiated, in Would You Rather, I simply ask a series of questions, and you follow up with your answers. Give as much or as little explanation as you want for your choices, but we all know that we like to see the reasoning behind the madness.

But beware, lest your answers be blessed with the curse of suck. If they do, large men dressed as either sushi or video games (I haven’t decided yet), will come to your house. And you will not like what they do when they arrive. I haven’t decided on what it is yet, but involves the fireball flower from the Mario games.

For video game plots, would you rather… Continue reading Would You Rather: Plot Edition

GamerSushi Asks: Launch Anticipation?

Midnight LaunchIf you haven’t gotten sick of us pointing out that Halo: Reach releases next week, then congratulations, you’re a trooper. As one of the bigger launches of the year, it’s kind of a hard thing to ignore, like King Kong taking a poop on your car. Not that any of us have experienced this, but you get the idea.

For me, there’s nothing quite like the anticipation that builds for a new release that you can’t wait to play. While I’m not the biggest Halo guy out there, I tend to get extremely excited about each new entry’s launch date. Perhaps it’s for nostalgia, and remembering the awesome nights I had for Halo 2 and 3, I don’t know. I seriously can’t wait for the launch of Halo: Reach, and I’m even taking September 14th off from work to play it all day with my brother.

I got just as excited this year when Mass Effect 2 came out, and I remember how antsy I got at work with it sitting on my desk (I picked it up during lunch). The only other release I can really remember getting this jazzed about was Gears of War 2, when I picked it up at midnight to play co-op with my buddy til the early hours of the morning.

So what about you guys? What games have you been most excited to have released in the past? Do you have any launch day ceremonies? What’s the next game coming out that you feel this way about? Go!

GamerSushi Asks: Finishing Games?

Game OverOver the last few weeks, we’ve gotten to do a lot of great getting-to-know-you type posts here at the Sushi. We’ve covered topics like FPS preferences, games that changed the way you thought about games and that’s just barely scratching the surface. One of the things that’s been on my mind lately as I’ve been clearing out the backlog is the idea of finishing video games.

This actually comes from a couple of places. The first would be my great addiction to achievements, which I’ve come clean about here on multiple occasions. It’s a healing process. Anyway, one of my favorite things about achievements (in addition to being a revival of the top scores of the 80s) is that you can see at a glance how far your friends are in games. For instance, I can check out Anthony or my buddy Miles’s profile to find out where they currently are in Mass Effect. It certainly makes for easier conversations about the game. However, one of the things I notice as I browse my friends’ achievements is how few of them actually finish games. And this isn’t unique to my friends, either. Apparently, there are a lot of people out there that don’t finish games. Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Finishing Games?

What Do You Do When You’re Not Gaming?

Reality - Video GamesGaming. It’s the bond that keeps our little community together. It’s the glue that holds us strong like… you know, glue, I guess. Anyway, we’ve been going strong for two years now, and we’ve talked about everything gaming related under the sun from a double takedown of Catwoman and Harley Quinn to arguments about which drug Hideo Kojima will use for his next inspiration.

And while I believe there are many more wells to tap, and deep ones at that, I thought I would venture a little bit outside the gaming sphere and find out more about you guys. I’ve said before that one of the things I love about this place is the way we all interact in the comments, so I’m counting on some pretty solid answers to this next question: what the heck do you guys do when you’re not gaming?

For me, as many of you know, I help run a goofy little outfit of guys making dumb Web videos. We’re currently on break right now, so in the meantime I’m doing a lot of personal writing. One of my dreams is to be a fantasy/sci-fi author. Barring that, I will just play video games the rest of my days until my thumbs fall off. And what about you guys? What kind of stuff are you into? Do you go to school? Work? Are you a superhero at night? Go!

Today’s WTF: Before Left 4 Dead, Valve Worked on a Fairy RPG

Tinkerbell BraaaaainsYes, you read the title of the article correctly. You know, some daily WTFs are so absurd sounding that they practically speak for themselves.

Earlier this week in an interview with PC Gamer, Valve honchos Doug Lombardi and Gabe Newell let slip some rather interesting information about what the famed developer was doing just before they embarked down the path that helped them create the zombie sensation Left 4 Dead. This little exchange occurred when PC Gamer asks them what they think they’ve failed at:

Doug Lombardi: There were a few failed starts to build Left 4 Dead.
Gabe Newell: Well, there was the flying fairy game. Is that the one you were referring to?
Erik Johnson: That was just a different game that, when we stabbed it… (everyone laughs)
Doug Lombardi: … It turned into Left 4 Dead!

Huh? Apparently, this fairy RPG required mouse gestures to cast spells and such. Newell later went on to say “it was so clearly dumb that it made us say, ‘OK, what are we actually good at that we can do instead?'” However, sometimes you have to fail to learn truly valuable lessons. They went on from there to figure out that the focus should be on AI and the co-operative experience. Well, thank goodness for that little revelation.

Honestly, as ridiculous as this is, I wish more developers would take about the genesis of some of their greatest ideas. I’m sure that Valve isn’t the first studio to start down a really bizarre path only to fail and then find those gems worth polishing. It’s interesting because with movies we’ve gotten so used to special features that walk us through every step of the process. I wish we had more material like that when it comes to games, because the whole thing seems so mysterious to us outsiders.

What do you guys think about this? What games would you like to hear more development stories about? Go!

Source – PC Gamer

Game Length: Does Size Matter?

Red Dead Redemption Bonnie

For some reason, game length has become an issue that people have really started talking about only in the last few years. I’m sure there are a variety of factors for this, so it’s not necessarily an easy thing to dissect. Maybe people have only really started noticing how long games are because they’ve gotten more expensive? Or perhaps people are only more aware of it in this hyper-informational age where we build hype and wait through long development cycles, so we expect more hands-on playtime? Really, it’s hard to be sure.

There was an interesting article about the very topic of game length the other day on GamesRadar, discussing the issue of how long is too long when it comes to video games. The point that the author makes, and one that I think totally hits the nail on the head, is that it all comes down to pacing. If a game is paced well, its shortness or length doesn’t feel as such because the pacing and the experience itself was satisfying.

For instance, Red Dead Redemption, while a fantastic game, has a few pace issues around Mexico (and some would say towards the end of the game). By contrast, Limbo or Portal are only about 3-4 hours long, but don’t feel short because of how well the creators balanced the progression. One of my only complaints about Arkham Asylum is that it’s too short, but I think it might be that the game’s final act wraps up almost too quickly, with pacing that is erratic at best, which didn’t quite hit on all the right cylinders as it winded down.

Anyway, I think it’s an interesting topic, and one that I’m curious to hear your thoughts on. Is there a such thing as a perfect game length, or does it differ from game to game? Can games be too long? What games do you feel have pacing issues? Go!

Source – GamesRadar

Gaming Pop Quiz, Almost Fall Edition

The Gaming Pop Quiz is back! Last time, we did a pre-summer edition to start the lazy sunny days off right, and now we return in anticipation of the gaming to come. Seriously, I can barely contain myself for Halo: Reach. It’s weird, because while I don’t really consider myself a Halo fanatic, few games make me more excited than the Halo games do. There’s some kind of mystique around the whole event that really gets me going.

Anyway, because I have nothing better to do than to clear out my backlog and play the incredible Tomb Raider: Guardian of Light (seriously, go play this), I come bearing a few questions for you dudes to answer. As always with our getting-to-know-you type games, feel free to answer with as much or as little as you like. Obviously, some of these things you might not remember, but answer to the best of your ability. Go!

1. What game always seems to elude you on your backlog?

2. What game mechanic do you think is underutilized (cover systems, destructible environments)?

3. If you could turn a portable game into a full-fledged console game, which one and why? And vice versa.

4. Would anything make you consider boycotting a game?

5. What game would immediately inspire you to upgrade to spend money on a new PC/console?

6. What do you feel like you’re still waiting to do in a game that you’ve never done before?

7. What game changed the way you view video games?

What Games Have You Bought This Gen?

Video GamesAs we get ready for the fall gaming season, we’ve had a few discussions lately about clearing out gaming backlogs. For some, this means renting or borrowing from friends to get through as much as possible. For others like me, it means playing through purchased games and trading them back in to get ready for what’s coming next (Halo: Reach and Civilization V, anyone).

The comment thread from our recent podcast delves into the idea of trading in old games a bit, and it got me thinking about all the games I’ve purchased this generation. Some of the ones off the top of my head include: Gears of War 1 and 2, Halo 3 and ODST, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2, Valkyria Chronicles, Uncharted 2, Forza 2, Mass Effect 1 and 2, Left 4 Dead, Fallout 3, Little Big Planet, Viva Pinata, FFXIII, Red Dead Redemption and then some.

Really, there aren’t a heaping ton of them or anything, but it still got me wondering: what games has the rest of GS purchased over the last few years? Leave your lists here, people. Go!

The Perfect Game?

Halo 3Since I’ve been knocking out some of gaming backlog, I’m currently tussling with a few titles that I wouldn’t ordinarily play in the midst of some heavy hitting releases. At the moment, I’m trying to knock out Alpha Protocol, which is a meager portion of gaming goodness at best. While the game isn’t bad per se, to me it just highlights everything that Mass Effect 2 did right with that style of play. Even Mass Effect 1, which wasn’t nearly as good as the sequel, does many things better than AP.

But as good as Mass Effect 2 is in my mind, I know that it was a game that was far from perfect. And as I thought more about this, I realized many of my favorite games have some huge glaring flaws. Anthony, a newcomer to the 360, just finished Halo 3 over the weekend, and had some legitimate complaints about the last third of the game, really (though I’ll let him speak more to that himself). The game is one of my favorites of this gen, but I won’t argue about all the things that are wrong with it.

Interestingly enough, one of my other friends calls Halo 3 multiplayer “the perfect game”. While I disagree from just a game play perspective, I think I must disagree from a philosophical perspective as well. Is there such a thing as the perfect game? I’m not talking about just a game without any technical glitches or whatever, but a game that is the perfect blend of all the things that make gaming good? Some of my favorite titles are far from perfect. And really, the closest thing I can think of off the top of my head is Portal.

So what do you guys think? Can there ever be a perfect game? And what games to you hit the closest?

Time Crisis Starring Spartacus

Freddie Wong is kind of my personal hero right now. Over the past few weeks, he’s made some awesome shorts dedicated to all-out gunfights; most of them poking fun at video games, such as his “Aimbot” piece. His new weekly offering takes us back to the arcade days of our youth, where Time Crisis gobbled up quarters faster than a broken vending machine. It also doesn’t hurt that Andy Whitfield, Spartacus himself, has taken up the second gun. Take a look:

Kind of awesome in my opinion. Also, Spartacus is kind of a recent obsession for my friends and I, so seeing Mr. Whitfield was pretty cool. What did you guys think of the video?

Poll: Do You Read Video Game Books?

Besides being a fanatic gamer, one of my other hobbies (other than tearing up the drums) is being an avid reader. I’ve been in and out of it the past few years, but recently I’ve begun to pick up books again. One of my favorite authors at the moment is Karen Traviss, who you might know from her successful Republic Commando novels (which themselves were based off of a video game). Recently, Karen has been doing the writing duties on both the Gears of War novels and the third game, but she’s also announced that she’s taking up the mantel of Halo after Greg Bear is done with his Forerunner trilogy. Novel tie-ins are becoming more and more pronounced in the games industry, so I pose this question to you guys: have you ever read a video game book?

Do You Read Video Game Books?

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GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

Alan WakeWell, you’ve listened to us yap about what we’re playing on the podcast, so it’s time for you all to jump in with it, too.

Fortunately for me, we seem to be in a very brief gaming drought, while we wait for the fall releases to start dropping on us. I suppose this begins in September with Halo: Reach, so that gives me a good couple of months to catch up with some of the games on my backlog. These include Alpha Protocol, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Starcraft II (when it comes out), Dragon Age: Awakening, and even more Red Dead Redemption.

However, in the immediate future I will be playing both Alien Swarm and Alan Wake, two games that are polar opposites in terms of budget, scale and style, but both equally as engaging, I’m sure. While I haven’t officially started Alan Wake just yet, I watched my brother play about a quarter of the game a couple of weekends ago and I was mesmerized. In addition, Alien Swarm has commanded the last couple of nights, and I still can’t get over just how fun this free game is.

So what about you guys? What are you playing? Go!

GamerSushi Asks: Favorite Co-Op Memories?

heavy rainEver since we’ve been able to use the internet to connect our consoles to each other, cooperative play is becoming more and more popular. I’m all for this, as I enjoy taking on waves of baddies with my friends just as much as I like shooting them in the face in a competitive match. There’s just something about co-op play that is altogether different and more satisfying than a straight-up Deathmatch game, but maybe that’s just because I’m a team player.

Both Red Dead Redemption and Battlefield Bad Company 2, two excellent games in their own rights, are getting co-op add-on packs today. Since both these games should be a blast to play with friends, I thought I would find out what your favorite co-op gameplay memories are. Do you have a specific recollection of you and a buddy (or several) holding out against AI antagonists, or maybe a particularly epic campaign playthrough to the wee hours of the morning? Let us know!

GamerSushi Asks: Are You A Streaker?

Now before you shout, “YES!” and grab your trenchcoat and sunglasses, allow me to explain.

A streaker, in this definition, is someone who plays a game consistently for a long time, but if another game is played, the first one loses all appeal. For example, after beating Final Fantasy XIII, I continued to play, doing side missions and hunting down monsters. But, once I played Alpha Protocol and beat it, all desire to play Final Fantasy XIII is gone for right now. I’m sure it will come back again sometime, but I’ve noticed that I sometimes have to maintain a streak of playing a game every day and if I stop, I find that I don’t want to play as much as I used to.

Do you guys ever experience anything like this? Are you streakers?

Russian Snack Company Wins the Internet With Their Commercials

You probably read that title and asked yourself “why is Mitch posting about Russian commercials?” Simple answer my friends: they are awesome, and video game related. The ads take two iconic video game franchises, like Contra and Tetris, and mashes them up in a versus setting. These ads have been running for quite a while, so there’s a few gems in there. The animated commercials are also a bit more mature than we’re used to in North America, but we’re all adults here, right? Catch Tetris versus Contra here, and Mario versus Pac-Man after the jump.

Contra versus Tetris:

Continue reading Russian Snack Company Wins the Internet With Their Commercials

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

Starcraft 2 betaSummer. In the great state of Texas, Summer is more than just a season. It is a way of life. It’s more than just hot, it is like living in a dog’s mouth. Yes, in our neck of the woods we will soon start dealing with temperatures that are greater than 95 to 100 degrees constantly, with 1000 percent humidity to boot. Texas climate is a great and harsh mistress, and we will weep.

But that doesn’t mean we stop playing games. In fact, we play games more than ever, as we seek shelter from the sun’s plague-ish rays that beat our brows, and try to find solace in moving pixels and multiplayer matches. For many of you guys, you’ll soon be off of school and ready to tackle a whole new slew of games. For working folk like myself, I will soon be free of a humongous burden known only as the second season of Web Zeroes. That means lots of gaming goodness will be had by all. Lo!

So, I guess that’s my way of asking what you guys are playing? Me: Starcraft 2 Beta and Reach Beta. You guys? Go!

GamerSushi Asks: Would You Rather?

The summer drought of gaming is upon us. Naturally, this means it’s time for another “Would You Rather” feature, since gaming news has pretty much slowed to a crawl unless it’s related to the Halo: Reach Beta. So, it’s time for some more getting-to-know-you type features.

In Would You Rather, I simply ask a series of questions, and you follow up with your answers. Give as much or as little explanation as you want for your choices, but we all know that we like to see the reasoning behind the madness.

Don’t let your answers suck, though. We will judge you harshly. Like, we might call you bad names and stuff.

Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Would You Rather?

GamerSushi Asks: Giving Up On Games?

DarksidersIn the past, I’ve been foolishly devoted to games at some points. I’m the guy that used to play the JRPGs, even when I couldn’t stand them, all the way to the end. There’s something to me about giving the game the benefit of the doubt, and giving it a chance to unfold a little bit. If I hadn’t done that, there would have been plenty of games I would have missed out on.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to do that kind of thing as much anymore. Games have to get my attention fairly early on in order for me stick them out, unless they’re known to be pretty short. This is why I stuck out Splinter Cell: Conviction even though I wasn’t thrilled through it. Tonight I played Darksiders. I’ve heard a few good things about it, so I thought I would give it the trial run earlier. Much to my surprise though, a few minutes in, I caught a game breaking glitch and couldn’t play it anymore. I immediately put it back in the GameFly envelope and lost interest.

This is kind of odd for me as I’ve never given up on a game that quickly. It felt rash at the time, but now I’m glad I did it, as it frees up time for me to play the Halo: Reach Beta on Monday. What’s funny is that I can’t remember the last time I’ve done something like that. I think the most recent game was Red Faction. It made me wonder about you guys, and what’s the fastest time for you to have given up on a game? Go!

More Audio Commentary in Video Games

PortalI wouldn’t necessarily call myself an audio commentary guy, really, but there have been a few times where listening to audio commentary for movies has greatly enhanced my appreciation of the film. Aliens, for instance, is pretty spectacular to listen to, even though James Cameron can be a douche at times. Likewise, Serenity’s commentary track with Joss Whedon is a must-hear, as well as anything with Bruce Campbell in it.

The concept of audio commentary in video games is a relatively new one, and not something I hear about too often. I know that Valve included audio commentary as part of the Orange Box, specifically Portal, which was a fascinating endeavor to me. I recently saw this list of 5 games we wish had audio commentary on GamesRadar, and it got me thinking about this whole subject.

So what do you guys? Do you want audio commentary for some of your favorite games? What games do you want it for? Personally, I would love to hear audio commentary for the first MGS game, Super Mario 64, and Beyond Good and Evil. Go!

Source- GamesRadar

Weeping for Games Lost

Goldeneye Xbox Live ArcadeAs avid videogamers, we’ve all grown used to the hype machine. Every year it bares itself before us, offering up plenty of food for us to feast on, all the while luring us into its clutches. Kind of like that scene in Pan’s Labrynth. Only instead of the weird hand-eye dude it’s Master Chief. You know what I mean. Anyway, because of all this pumping of videogames that we’ve seen, we’ve grown equally used to the disappointment when some of these games somehow fall into the nether regions of gaming vaporware.

Taking a look at some recent entries into the ever-expanding catalog of games that won’t see the light of day, GamesRadar has posted a list of 19 Incredible Games You’ll Never Play. It really is astonishing to take a gander at the list, because I remember reading about a couple of the games in particular (Tiberium and Cipher Complex) as featured stories on magazines like Game Informer. In addition, there were a few of these titles that I didn’t know had been canned, such as Division 9.

I think the title on the list that makes me the most upset would have to be the Goldeneye HD remake that was going to release on XBox Live Arcade, which eventually got shelved. I also would have loved to play the FFXII spinoff mentioned, which is described as Helm’s Deep meets Chocobos. Um, yes please. And last, but certainly not least, Star Wars Battlefront III, a sequel to one of my favorite games of last generation.

Anyway, were you guys looking forward to any of the games on this list? Which of those titles do you think you would have wanted to play, and what games have been canceled in the past that really stung?

Source- GamesRadar