When a new copy of Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition was held up at one of our regular staff meetings, we immediately dove in to discover who holds the record for the most "Wii" puns in one sentence. Wii didn't find it, but we did open up a fine catalogue game industry 'firsts' and 'mosts,' and a list of ridiculously high scores.Trivia is great, but we feel there might be a few more inventive records missing from the tome, and unlike a
Everyone loves indie games. They’re cheap, crazy and addictive, and there’s not a besuited marketing man in sight. For the few independent games that make it big, fame and fortune (of sorts) await. After all, Chris Sawyer created Rollercoaster Tycoon all by himself, and these days he sleeps on a bed made of c-notes and gold. Broadband has made it cheaper and easier than ever before to distribute indie games, but even harder to get
In honor of Gary Gygax - who passed away Tuesday, March 4, 2008 - we’d like to reflect on the profound influence Dungeons & Dragons has exerted on videogames. Dungeons & Dragons’ elaborate yet elegant game system is the bedrock upon which all modern videogames are built. Most of the gaming paradigms we know and love were forged on the anvil of TSR’s Dungeons & Dragons in 1974. So-called “RPG elements” have
Videogame music has grown tremendously over the years. From humble bleeps and blorps that could have doubled as fart noises to sweeping soundtracks that fill two discs with ease, gamers have grown increasingly fond of the melodies chirping out of their TV. And there's perhaps no set of tunes more adored than those that ring throughout the many adventures of Link. Anyone who's even held a controller in the past 20 years should instantly recognize
During the creation of aquatic masterpiece, BioShock, Irrational Studios couldn’t figure out how long their game was going to be. Creepy little girls? Check. Violent oafs in diving suits? Check. The number of gameplay hours? Um...
Anyone who’s been up till three in the morning balancing budgets in SimCity or perfecting their garden in Viva Piñata can testify to the power of the “work is play” philosophy on game design found in many great sims. But not all sims are created equal and many have taken this idea of “work as play” way too far. Today, we’ll be looking at some of the most heinous examples of sims gone wrong, the ones that
Every so often, we come across a level in a game that is infuriatingly unpassable. In the early days of video gaming, this could have been chalked up to inexperienced level design. Yet despite the industry’s many advances, plenty of games still contain glaring points at which the player’s progress grinds utterly and completely to a halt. Whether the stoppage is due to poor design choices or thumb-wounding difficulty, it can last
When aspiring musicians and the internetz collide, it often results in some of the most unholy power combos the universe has ever seen. We’d even go as far to say that most of these mighty Gods of Rock surpass real-world supergroups like Velvet Revolver and Damn Yankees. YouTube alone holds a treasure trove of musical gems, and these are some of our very most favoritest. And yes, we're including the hand farter.
GDC, SchmeDC. Nothing against Will Wright and Co., but with the degree of fandom and spandex tushy on display, WonderCon is truly the place to be. Where else can you see drool over a scantily-clad female Naruto, while chuckling at morbidly obese Han Solo. No where, dammit! Onward:
