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.
This got me thinking. I do that sometimes. I remember an age in gaming when cutscenes were welcome with anticipation. Hell, part of the draw of the original PSX hits like Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid were the spectacular cut scenes, because it brought gaming to a new level in that generation. But then you have a game like Portal or Left 4 Dead which uses little to no cut scenes in order to fully immerse you in the gameplay, and it works just as well.
So- what’s the perfect kind of cut scene in gaming? While we can all probably agree that an hour and a half is much too long, what’s too short? What should a cut scene accomplish? What are your thoughts about cut scenes in video games? And what are your favorite examples? Answer away!
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 
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Valve is genius. They really know what they’re doing, especially when it comes to Steam. That’s why even EA comes to them for web distribution of their games. It kind of rules.
Fanboys. Got to love them. Actually, you don’t have to, I take that back. Personally, I think fanboy-ism is completely ridiculous in the sense that you’d defend a console or company no matter what, out of loyalty. But whatever, what do I know.
Ah, PC gaming yesteryear. How I miss thee. No matter how much I love console gaming, there’s a part of me that will never leave PC gaming behind completely. Unfortunately, there aren’t a whole lot of games that really make me want to jump back into it these days.
Yikes. Be careful with those Wii-motes, kiddies. Not only do they cause all kinds of personal injury as well as property damage, but they are a damage to our cute and cuddly pets. Especially if you are bowling like a maniac and smack your new puppy in the noggin.
Apart from sounding like some kind of vulgar nickname for a body part, Fable II’s Knothole Island is going to be a downloadable addition that will hit XBox Live tomorrow. It offers extra areas to explore, along with some new sidequests to garner some more fame. Who knows, maybe there will be property there, as well.
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.
Lots of people crack on Nintendo for not making hardcore games anymore. Today, a patent went public that may confirm this suspicion for many people: