Tag: video games

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An A to Z guide to Mario

Shaun

On November 13, the strangely titled Super Mario 3D Land comes out on the Nintendo 3DS.

In case you needed a refresher on the realm of insanity that is the Mario series, I’ve compiled an A-Z guide covering everything on the mustachioed Olympian kart racing partying doctor plumber.

Airship

First introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3, the airships replaced the castles of the original Mario game with floating fortresses filled to the brim with death. Cannon balls, wrenches, and every other painful object you could think of fly through the air as the screen slowly scrolls over, forcing gamers to constantly stay on their toes. At the end, Mario faces off with one of Bowser’s children before falling a thousand feet to safety. Continue reading “An A to Z guide to Mario”

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Review: Deux Ex Human Revolution

Chris

I know what you’re thinking. “But Chris … a few weeks ago you said you don’t like shooters!”

First of all, that’s not true. I said I don’t like most shooters. There are exceptions. Despite being unfamiliar with the series, I liked enough of what I saw from previews for Deus Ex: Human Revolution to give it a shot, especially since it was free for me to play it.

What followed was an experience in unstoppable roaming turrets, devastating punches, never asking for this, and a game that ultimately does a lot of things very well, but nothing truly great. Continue reading “Review: Deux Ex Human Revolution”

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Video games and artistic value

Shaun

Yes, I’m aware that everyone and their mother have voiced their opinions on the artistic merit of the video game industry, but I figure I may as well give my two cents on the topic. I’m a frequent victim of peer pressure, so this is only me acting within character.

Video games have grown up. Once a niche technology focused on high scores and competition and defined solely by its gameplay, the medium has evolved into a thematic vehicle that utilizes storytelling, character development, and audio and visual ambiance. Games now provide their audiences with a truly unique form of media by blending storytelling with interactivity.

Despite this growth and progression, the true nature of games is still fervently debated.

The biggest debate regarding this issue is whether games can be considered a “higher art.” Even Roger Ebert, renowned film critic, has voiced his opinion on this topic, stating that although games can sometimes possess aesthetically pleasing qualities, video games, by definition, cannot be art. Continue reading “Video games and artistic value”

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Tales of Disappointment

Chris

My love-hate relationship with the “Tales of” video game series goes back almost a decade now. Don’t get me wrong — there’s a lot more love than hate. But sometimes those emotions are two sides of the same coin, after all.

I was introduced to the series through a ROM of the Super Nintendo’s Tales of Phantasia back in high school. At the time, I was impressed by the idea of a fighting-game-like battle system in an RPG — it seemed like a nice change of pace from turn-based, menu-heavy systems.

That game was decent, but I wasn’t really a huge fan until the summer of 2004, when Tales of Symphonia hit the GameCube and redefined my view of the series and RPGs forever. Continue reading “Tales of Disappointment”

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Shaun’s wish list for Kingdom Hearts 3

Shaun

The Kingdom Hearts series certainly likes to space out its main entries. We are now five years and counting since the release of Kingdom Hearts 2, with only the prequels and side stories to bridge the gap. It is a legitimate concern now that if the world does end in 2012, John Cusack and his family will never see the proper third chapter in this series.

In fact, the word in the hood (also known as rumors my little sister tracks down) is that Tetsuya Nomura and his posse haven’t even started work on Kingdom Hearts 3 yet. Still, we all know it’s going to happen eventually, and after playing Birth by Sleep (and lamenting how monotone Aqua and Terra’s voice actors are), I’ve chronicled some of the changes I would like to see. Continue reading “Shaun’s wish list for Kingdom Hearts 3”

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Blog: The best of Final Fantasy

Shaun

At the end of last year, Square Enix released Final Fantasy: Dissidia Duodecim (or something…I’m gonna be honest, I don’t care enough to figure out the real title), a game in which the main characters from all the Final Fantasy games duke it out with the central antagonists. The game is decently fun and rich with the series’ history, but the plot manages to be even dumber than its premise would lead you to believe, and the script reads like a 7-year-old’s fan fiction. An illiterate 7-year-old.

Anyway, when you load up the game and pass the unnecessarily long tutorial, you are tasked with choosing which hero’s quest to first embark on. The good news is that I had already planned to select which Final Fantasy character to use first based on which installment in the series was my favorite. The bad news is that I had no idea which one that is (I am terrible at making any sort of exclusive choices). In order to work through this dilemma that I’m sure you are now deeply invested in, I decided to utilize a very in-depth process to arrive at my selection. Sit back; I know you’re excited.

Continue reading “Blog: The best of Final Fantasy”

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Call of Doody

Chris

I hate Call of Duty. There, I said it.

Okay, it’s not that simple. We had to set up some background stuff first. I mean, I don’t just hate something for no reason — even the Hate Round on the podcast doesn’t support that. If you’re going to spend time hating something, you have to make it a calculated thing, not something spur of the moment.

First things first: I’m not a big fan of shooters, Call of Duty or not. They’re not real high on my favorites list. I’ve played a few over the years that I’ve actually liked, but the list is pretty short and each one has its own reasons. Continue reading “Call of Doody”

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Shaun’s new RPG

Shaun

Believe it or not, America, I am currently creating my own game. That’s right — after the prestige I gained from the At The Buzzer radio show, it was only natural that I would move into game development. My game is still in the early stages, and the production crew is made up of only me…and I don’t actually know how to program anything. But what I have so far is really promising.

In case you were wondering, it’s a role-playing game. To create my masterpiece, I have taken inspiration from countless RPGs and carefully studied their tried-and-true conventions. Without further ado, I present to you elements of “Tales of the Chronicles: The Final Myth of the Legendary Fable.” Continue reading “Shaun’s new RPG”

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Adventures in PlayStationland

David

Full disclosure: I’ve always been a Sony fanboy customer.  It probably started back when I was young and the only brand of electronics in our home was Sony. We had a Sony 27” TV from the time I was 3 up until I was about 17. Sony was built to last, built for the long haul and would be there with you like a good friend. That’s why I never purchased an N64 or Xbox growing up, it was all about the Sony PlayStation.

Things just aren’t like they used to be, as I’ve had quite the adventure with my PS3.

I was the recipient of the original PlayStation in January 1997 for my 12th birthday, and it still works to this day. I bought the PlayStation 2 in February 2004, and it still works to this day. I purchased the PlayStation 3 in March 2008, with the full expectation that it would work until the PlayStation Cuatro, or whatever goofy name they come up with when the next generation of systems come out.

Boy was I ever wrong. Continue reading “Adventures in PlayStationland”

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Games for a concerned gamer

Chris

I consider myself a pretty serious gamer. I might not be as prolific as I once was (hello, middle school years!), but I probably spend a good 10-15 hours a week playing games of some kind.

I consider myself a pretty serious gamer, yet I’ve bought exactly three new titles in 2011.

One of those was Marvel vs. Capcom 3, a must for a fighting game fan like myself. One was You Don’t Know Jack, which wasn’t even a full retail release (we reviewed that game in the first episode of At the Buzzer). And the last was Pokemon Black. Sure, I managed to milk a lot of time out of catching them all — and by catching them all, I mean catching about 20 that I like, ignoring the rest, and spending the rest of my time battling/breeding — but there was still a pretty noticeable lack of games that I cared about.

Looking ahead, though, there seem to be a ton of games I can get behind.

Continue reading “Games for a concerned gamer”