Jesus H. Christ everyone, every time I find myself coming to terms with having been left out of the StarCraft II beta test, something happens to make me want to gouge my own eyes out with a beta tester’s severed…
The full post can be read here.
Did you play Mount & Blade? I did. Did you like it? I… did? It had great horseback combat and the character management was pretty cool. But lord, did it get boring. Like the last six GTA 4 missions boring. That said, a definite A for effort, assuming they do a sequel and add more, you know, stuff to do. Anyway, you’re here because…
The full post can be read here.
The Resistance and Liberation guys have been correctifying up a storm with the stream of updates to the open beta. We already reported on the last batch of updates, but as if to say “hey check out this link bait!”…
The Rest can be found over at gamefront.
Have you had a chance to check out X Motor Racing? No? What the hell is wrong with you? The 3D racing simulator is reasonably priced at 50 bucks for a private license and 80 for business. Due to prohibitive licensing costs, the initial release has only GTA style fake versions of real auto brands, like “Javia”, and “Doxster”. Fortunately, it’s fully customizable…
Read the whole thing here!
This originally appeared on LAist.com.
Those of you who didn’t get to attend E3 – that’s, well, most of you – Sorry for the lack of posts. That ends now.
First, yes, E3 is awesome, though it’s not what I expected. My previous experience with a massive trade convention is ComiCon, which is open to industry and fans alike. Indeed, the fact that fans are allowed means that in addition to being a major showcase for new gadgets, toys, comics and movies, it’s also a place where you can purchase a shitload of already available such products. No such luck at E3, where it’s industry and media only, and the only deals made are the network contacts you establish while you’re there. And worst of all, there’s less swag than a Church picnic. It’s difficult to spend hours surrounded by gadgets and games, some of which are already available, and not be able to purchase or get free… anything.
But the inability to buy anything did give me a lot of time to think. So after 3 days of totally nerding out over video games, what did I take away? 3 things:
1) Gamers are aging. And the industry wants to mine their precious nostalgia.
2) Like it or not, it’s physically interactive games that are going to make video gaming ubiquitous.
3) The gaming industry’s sexism overflow needs to STFU and DIAF.
Today, let’s talk about point number one.
It’s been 5 years since Dungeon Siege 2. That’s a hell of a long time in gaming, and even longer when you consider that in the meantime, we’ve been treated not only to a ton of me-too games from other developers, but that horrible Uwe Boll film. Finally, Square Enix has stepped up with the long awaited next installment in the series, Dungeon Siege III. It’s still TBD 2011, which is infuriating, but we made due with a fantastic E3 demo…
Read the rest here!
It’s entirely likely no one is reading this, and I’m really only adding this to sharpen the habit of blogging. Futurama returns tonight on Comedy Central. This is, basically, the best thing ever… that is, unless it ends up doing the same thing the Family Guy did and going to from hilarious, bizarre and mean to cruel, button pushing circle jerk. Or worse, just boring.
What I mean to say is that I’m a Futurama fan boy for life, but the new films were uneven. Bender’s Big Score was absolutely wonderful but none of the other films measured up to it. But if the new season can just live up to the Beast With A Billion Backs, and be not like Bender’s Game, this will be very good news.
Probably the biggest winner of the E3 press conference wars was Nintendo, who used the occasion to not only showcase their sudden willingness to invest in classic franchises they inexplicably ignored, but to show off the 3DS. I finally got to see it for myself on the final day of E3…
You can read the rest of this thrilling, 3D adventure by clicking here.
Fun fact: Formula One racing is the world’s largest driving competition. Viewership and financial outcomes out-perform the combined totals of NASCAR and Indy, and yet you’ve probably never seen more than 5 seconds in a James bond movie. Not your fault mind you: Americans just don’t go for multiple-day-decreased-chance-of-fiery-redneck-explosions racing. Even so, it’s big business and you’d think that means big video game business as well. You’d be wrong; F1 games have never been as successful a street racing and NASCAR games. The F1 franchise languished under Sony’s ownership for the better part of the last decade. After their license to the brand lapsed, it was quickly snatched up by Codemasters, who launched their first F1 game, Formula One 2009, last year….
I loved Red Faction: Guerrilla. Not a perfect game by any means, but despite its flaws (thin story, too linear, difficult-yet-repetitive sidequests) it was a riot. A vast departure in gameplay from previous Red Faction games, it provided hours of destroy-every-building-period fun, and the story, thin though it was, was actually kind of cool: lightly evocative of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy, it also directly tied to 2008’s highly underrated Saint’s Row 2. And the game’s flaws weren’t terminal – Saint’s Row was, at best, a surprisingly not terrible GTA clone, but SR2 was basically my entire Fall, 2008. No reason a follow up to Guerilla couldn’t similarly improve on what worked.
So it was with some interest that I attended a demo of Red Faction: Armageddon at E3…
Read the whole thing here.
Ross Lincoln is a freelance writer and wine-soaked dilletante based in Los Angeles. He writes about console and PC games for 
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