The tumbler

THE BATMOBILE. or sort of w/e. Yeah the tumbler is the name of the car Batman drives and its so freaking cool. He uses it to "tumble" off rooftops. I am also tumbling off towards tumblr.com how cool is that? Yeah I used cool like 4 times already, Ill stop. For the future, bad jokes aside you can find my writing over at here

The Death of the Self, (and the Rebirth of the Family)

A man had a dream, a dream of a world where rational self-interest reigned free. A place where man is not held down by governments or morality, outside of God and away from the leeches of society. In the world of Bioshock, that dream is realized. Enter Andrew Ryan; an enigmatic randian hero. He constructed a city underwater, a thriving metropolis free from the constraints of the common man. Rapture, he called it. Yet by some cruel sense of nature, man will always be man. The city fell to ruin, in a philosophical sense. Its citzens begun to experiment with genetics, trying desperatly to alter their appearences in a vain attempt to achieve beauty. Eventually these genetics spiraled into weapons, and the city erupted into an all out civil war. Little girls now roam the halls of Rapture, extracting "Adam" from the corpses of the forgotten. While the Big Daddies, large hulking men and women in diving suits, stand watch over them.

This is the world of Bioshock,

Immersion Break

Immersion is the magic word that game developers love to use. Its the happy bunny rabbit that sits on top of your desk and reminds you why your life doesn't suck. Yet everyone has it, so the point of having it isn't really that unique, its just there for your own devices. Immersion works in relatively the same aspect. Every game developer loves touting the fact that their game has wonderful immersion aspects and how it sucks gamers in. Any experience that breaks it, therefore makes the game terrible and virtually unplayable. The gaming press has an even worse time when it comes to immersion as well. We will dissect a game and complain about how we were taken out of the experience. Thus ultimately destroying our enjoyment of the product as a whole.

However, this isn't anything new. When you go to the movie theatre, there will be people walking in and out of the movie constantly. When you are reading a book, your mother or pet of some kind will bother you, taking you out of the fanciful or philosophical adventure you were enjoying. My point is that Immersion disruption in games is much the same. If a game is good enough in its execution of its story elements, the construction of its game designs, then immersion is a useless factor. Nine times out of ten, the average gamer will not be absorbed in your product. They won't wait on the edge of their seat, hoping for the next power-up mushroom to appear. Chances are that they will come in, play for an hour then go drink a beer and watch TV. Immersion is an important factor in game design, but it should never be the focus. What makes a game great is not drawing people into the world. Sure its a contributing factor, but the vast majority of people don't care. They want a brilliant story, solid game play and an experience that only this medium can provide.

In Defense of Video Games

As of late, the gaming world has been bogged down by mediocrity. In titles that we once endeared and treasured above all else, we are stuck with crap. Nintendo keeps giving their loyal fans their comny throw-up of the past 10 years. Microsoft practically tries to charge us for the air we breathe.
While Sony doesn’t understand the typical consumer and now tries to play catch up.

2009 was a terrible year for games. Massive layoffs and less then stellar titles started to show that the game industry is not immune to recession. Titles like Assassins Creed 2 and New Super Mario Brothers Wii show us that our industry is dying. When games like that receive massive praise for recycled game concepts and rehashed graphics. Yet they were both huge successes, both commercially and through meta-scores.

First of all I'm not complaining that they are bad games. They are the hyperbole definition of fun. I lost myself for hours in Renaissance Italy, helping my friends save Princess Peach from the castle. Yet fun isn't a valid excuse anymore. We as a entertainment medium have been trying to validate our choices through this fallacy. "you can't knock that game, its sooo much fun dude." That excuse doesn't work now. It might have worked back in the Atari 2600 days, it might have worked when Gallagher was considered fun. It doesn't work today.

These games are not amazing or groundbreaking. Assassins Creed 2 is a rehash of broken concepts hidden by a sequel moniker. It is simply the first game, with all its myriad problems, both aesthetically and fundamentally. The combat is flawed and broken, along with the control of the main character as well. All wrapped up with the laughable plot elements of a Dan Brown Novel. New Super Mario Brothers Wii is a lazy port of a DS game with the multiplayer functionality of a Sega Saturn game. Any game can have 4 player local co-op, that isn't an accomplishment anymore.

There are plenty of titles that are just as equally undeserving of any garnered "groundbreaking" or "innovative". No fan boys, stop it. If you truly love your console and your companies as you so blatantly confess, ask for more. Ask for Quality, not Mario or Zelda. For all of us. Otherwise, kittens cry, and the terrorists win.

2010 Predictions

1. Jade Empire 2 will be announced and released sometime in 2010
2. Diablo 3 release date announcement, hopefully not 2012 or 2013
3. Nintendo releases at least one original IP that isnt a rehash of their work from the past 10 years
4. Sony beats Microsoft in overall game sales or console sales.
5. Final Fantasy 13 will be mediocre at best, not groundbreaking.
6. A new WoW expansion (not cataclysm) will be announced
7. Starcraft 2 the wings of Liberty will be released sometime this year.
8. Multiplayer, motion control and 3-D will be in practically every game, and we will all get sick of it by the end of the year.
9. Sony will dominate at E3
10. Capcom will suffer lackluster sales from Deadrising 2 and Dark Void
11. Crysis 2 will be released this year.
12. A new reboot of the Resident Evil franchise will take place.
13. A sweet Steven Segall game will be announced
14. Fanboys will be just as retarded as all the previous years
15. Mass Effect 2 will be freaking awesome
16. Alan Wake will get delayed until 2011
17. A new Batman game will be announced and released this year
18. Xbox live will be free (yeah right)
19. Infamous 2 will be announced at E3
20. The Bioshock movie is going to be highly entertaining, and be loosely based on the game.