Tag: video games

Blogs, Jason, Video Games1 Comment

Review: Katawa Shoujo; or how I stopped worrying and learned to love disabled girls

Jason

**I’m gonna start this blog off by giving you all fair warning that the game I’m about to “review” most certainly crosses into NSFW territory. Although the content of this blog does not, Google searching this game and clicking some of the following links could very well be a trap.**

Katawa Shoujo, or Disability Girls, is a game/visual novel centered around a young man with a heart condition who finds himself at a school for the disabled that just so happens to be filled with cute, single girls. If that sounds like the setup for a bad porno or some kind of webcomic you’d find on 4chan, then you aren’t all that wrong.

Produced by 4 Leaf Studios, Katawa Shoujo does indeed find its origins on 4chan (/a/ in particular) where a thread popped up featuring the artwork of one RAITA. The piece featured all the building blocks for a dating game involving a private school for the disabled, and started quite a wave of interest in the subject. Of course, this kind of thing isn’t all that surprising to see on the Internet. Although surprisingly, from what I understand, this push for disabled and crippled girl content was actually urged on after a thread on /b/ featured the touching tale of a nurse at a nursing home doing his best to take care of a 7-year-old girl that had recently come under his care after having lost her family (and most of her limbs, plus an eye) in a terrible car accident. Kotaku posted a slightly more detailed history of all this on their site a little while back, for those interested in their article it’s here.

Regardless of its origins, though, the most important thing to remember about Katawa Shoujo is that it’s a game that would never have seen the light of day had it not been for the Internet. Now I don’t mean that in a “the web helped them put it together” kinda way that almost any project could claim these days. I mean it in the sort of “this game was developed and put together by people from many different locations all around the world without ever getting together in the fashion an typical game studio would” kinda way. This game is a shining example of the kind of quality projects that can only just now be made in this day and age. Continue reading “Review: Katawa Shoujo; or how I stopped worrying and learned to love disabled girls”

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Gaming’s worst conventions

Shaun

A few weeks ago, a friend and I were going over things that we hated and wished would burn in a terrible fire. I threw out frivolous things that bother me, like “Michael Bay movies” or “Fortunetellers who try to get you to believe they know you by saying things like ‘Sometimes things happen in life that don’t quite meet your expectations.’” He said things decidedly less frivolous, like “my parents” and “people who disagree with me.” I realized at this moment we were not playing the same game and became very uncomfortable.

Anyway, considering this “hate list” got me thinking about different aspects in the video game industry that need to take a permanent hiatus. They don’t have to go home, but they gots to get the hell out of here!

…Sorry, I just always wanted to say that, and I never had a party where people had to leave quickly. Or any kind of party, really.

Continue reading “Gaming’s worst conventions”

Blogs, Chris, Video Games2 Comments

Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Chris

During some of the buzz leading up to last week’s release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, a few gaming outlets dared to wonder the impossible: Could Skyward Sword be better than Ocarina of Time?

At first, I’m sure a few people found that idea to be outlandish. OoT is held up as the gold standard in gaming, after all; it received a litany of awards and perfect 10s when it came out more than a decade ago, and introduced the Z-targeting system found in hundreds of games today. And now this upstart game on a dying console was supposed to supplant what some would call the best game ever?

Well, believe the hype, folks. Skyward Sword is the best Zelda game ever made. Continue reading “Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword”

Blogs, Chris, Video Games1 Comment

Review: Saints Row The Third

Chris

One of the problems with having this Monday blog spot is that it’s nigh impossible to do a quick turnaround on a review, what with everything releasing on Tuesdays (except movies, but the hell with those). The flip side is that it gives me a chance to dig deep into a new title and give it more than just a cursory look.

Saints Row: The Third is no exception.

In the last six days, I’ve put in somewhere around 25-30 hours into SR3, which allowed me to get through the game and also finish nearly all of the activities and other side missions. As such, I can tell you this much: If you enjoy games that don’t take themselves too seriously and are fun to play, you’ll enjoy Saints Row: The Third. Continue reading “Review: Saints Row The Third”

Blogs, Chris, Video Games2 Comments

Goodbye Forever

Chris

Well, the week that I saw coming in an earlier blog post (my first one on the site, actually) has finally arrived. I just wanted to take this time to say goodbye to the majority of my friends and family, because gaming companies have once again conspired to put out pretty much all their good titles in the month of November.

(Disclaimer: Yes, I understand that it’s all an effort from retailers to get in on the big holiday sales season, rather than releasing the next big Zelda game in July when no one cares. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.)

Starting tonight with the midnight release of Saints Row the Third, I might not be going outside for a couple weeks. While that would be an awful strategy in the long run, I’m actually a little bit excited about the prospect for the time being. Continue reading “Goodbye Forever”

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Sports Fantasy

David

Last night, David Robinson, second baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, hit 3 home runs and brought his batting average over .400 at the All Star break in the 2015 MLB season.

Some of you might say: “But the Cardinals won the World Series last Friday!” “David Robinson was a basketball player” or “Hey moron! It’s 2011, not 2015.”  You would all be right in saying this, especially the moron part. However, thanks to the miracle of video games, the virtual David Robinson can enjoy a long career doing whatever he pleases.

It doesn’t stop there for the great virtual David Robinson. In addition to being an All-Star major leaguer, he’s also the starting quarterback for #1 Alabama (coming off two national championships in 2011 and 2012). Basketball? Leading scorer for the 2011-2012 Phoenix Suns (yeah, in virtual world, the NBA exists in 2011-12).  He’s even good in hockey, where he made a rare appearance for the Phoenix Coyotes, scoring 4 goals in a game, never to be seen again. Continue reading “Sports Fantasy”

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Sexism in gaming

Shaun

Recently, a major company went on record stating they were no longer going to feature female leads in their video games because they believe there is a correlation between poor sales and women protagonists. The company claimed it’s not a question of gender bias or inequality, just the bottom-line. According to the company, games are getting more and more expensive to produce, and if there is an element that could put a dent in profit margins, it’s only natural to remove it.

This statement is just the latest thread in an ongoing issue regarding sexism in gaming, a problem that is not isolated to the medium. The Bechdel test, named after 80’s cartoonist Alison Bechdel, paints a pretty clear picture of the industry trends regarding males and females. In order to pass the Bechdel Test, a television program or movie must be able to answer “yes” to the following three questions:

  1. Are there two or more women in the film that have names?
  2. Do they talk to each other?
  3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?

While there are numerous instances where a Bechdel test would directly violate the thematic structure or historic fidelity of a program (Saving Private Ryan, for example), the sheer number of productions that fail this test is startling, and gaming is heading down the same road.

So both game developers and Hollywood execs have convinced themselves that a feminine influence in their products hinders the bottom line, but the more I try to analyze the problem, the more I am left wondering if the whole thing is a “chicken or the egg” conundrum. Is sexism a problem because we as consumers fail to buy into anything feminine-related, or do game developers cater to the male crowd because of preconceived notions of our bigotry? Continue reading “Sexism in gaming”

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The Mass Effect Universe, and why you should care

Jason

NOTE: David is out of town dealing with a family emergency, so Jason Hagerty (a guest on Episode 012 of the show) is filling in this week.

Let me start off by saying that I didn’t get around to playing the first Mass Effect until quite some time after it was released. I’d seen promos here and there, of course, but at the time I wasn’t a huge Xbox fan and nothing about the game’s advertisements really drew me in. A nondescript male space marine saves the galaxy from alien invaders — tell me if you’ve heard THAT one before. But eventually, after being told how good it was time and time again by people who HAD played it, I saddled up and bought the Game of the Year edition.

Thank God I did.

While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that playing Mass Effect was a “life changing” experience, I’d definitely say it’s one of the most defining games of my lifetime. Now don’t get me wrong, the game is by no means perfect; but the combination of RPG elements, third person shooter combat, and a thrilling story line about the first human Specter (think U.S. Marshal, but in space) drew me into a universe that I would gladly go back to over and over again.

If you haven’t played the games yet, consider this a piece on why you should. Only, I’m not going to focus on gameplay or graphics or any of that stuff…that’s what reviews are for. I’m going to focus on the strength of the setting itself, and why the Mass Effect Universe is one of the strongest Intellectual Properties of our time. Continue reading “The Mass Effect Universe, and why you should care”

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Review: NBA 2K12

Chris

2K Sports had every reason to mail it in.

They won, after all. Not only was NBA 2K11 one of the most critically acclaimed sports titles in video game history, but it also managed to wipe EA Sports’ series from the face of the earth in the process. EA’s NBA Elite was a glitch-ridden, buggy mess, so bad that the company canceled development of last year’s title and didn’t even bother with one for 2011.

So no one could really fault 2K for resting on their laurels and giving us the standard roster update. After all, Madden’s been doing it for years.

Instead, they took the definitive basketball experience and made it even better. Continue reading “Review: NBA 2K12”