Sony’s surprise that developers don’t want to commit time and resources to developing for a platform that, frankly, is out of touch with the economic and gaming realities of 2012 (no money, lots of cheap options), and is the real surprise in this story. “One thing that was surprising and disappointi
For a constellation of aesthetic, practical, social, technological, motivational, logical, ethical and moral reasons, I do not use Instagram. Please, feed me your hate; it makes me stronger. But. But. But! Photogotchi, a new, magic, filter from CarnationGroup, casts a Metroidish-shadow on the imag
J. Hoberman, exiled from the Village Voice, hits one out of the park at The New York Review of Books with his discussion of the introduction of CGI into film. – – – In short, whether as a source of visual data or as a delivery system, computer-generated imagery has introduced a radical impurity into
A collaboration between the Newcastle Univeristy Business School and the University of Crete yields the results that thousands of basement-dwelling, Cheeto-mainlining deadbeats have been waiting for: playing MMOs can teach workplace leadership skills. As the working world demands international colla
Over in LA-LA land, movie and television composers are taking a break from their linear narratives and CGI explosions to score, well, the slightly less linear narratives and, er, CGI explosions of videogames. Money quote: “The score will never play the same way twice,” Tyler says. “I like to watch p
EA’s long-running basketball series has conceded the ring to NBA 2K13 for the season. Some tips to get back in shape: 1. Less time at Score’s. 2. Train with 2K13. Did you see how KD got in the gym with Bronbron this summer? The Lanklien knows to beat the best, you have to act like his homeboy durin
The LA Review of Books has a trenchant piece today from the novelist Adam Wilson about the way Louie appeals to the new generation of young men and women, swaddled in their beds, watching TV on laptops and tablets. It is a show that, more than any other, both caters to this new kind of audience — t
A fundraiser to benefit the family of Sean Smith, the influential EVE Online player and foreign service officer killed this month in Libya, has raised more than $100,000. In case you missed it, the Christian Science Monitor ran a really interesting piece about the parallel diplomatic world Smith hel
SB Nation gives us several thousand more words than we thought we needed on the tournament and PC gaming love-in in Dallas: The bring-your-own-computer room was dark and cold. The open room spanned more than 25,000 square feet, with about 2,800 people divided among dozens of rows of computers. Some
Over at Edge, a terrific look inside the development of 2010’s sad, funny, unforgettable indie smash, Limbo. The big quote, from creator Arnt Jensen: “I really enjoy getting rid of everything to see what works,” he says. “It should be working when it’s very naked and there’s nothing – no music or an
The point of this Freakonomics podcast, “The Tale of the $15 Tomato”, is that …this movement towards doing our own labor, and pickling, and fancy food stuff that you do at home, I think that is really a sign of how spoiled we have all become. Our basic needs are so well taken care of that we need to
1. You’re fasting, so stay away from cooking games. 2. You’re repenting, so stay away from games that reward you or make you feel good. Anything with bright colors, bloopy sound effects, or loot. Dark Souls would be a good choice for today. 3. For being the bummer-bro of Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur
Bloomberg reported yesterday that cable companies AT&T, Verizon, and Time Warner are all exploring the possibility of delivering HD gaming to subscribers through their cable box. The Nintendo Wii U, frankly, looks uninspiring. At the Tokyo Game Show, Sony was very excited to debut… the umpteenth it
Today, Resident Evil 6 arrived in our office. We have a gentleman/woman’s agreement with Capcom not to publish anything about the game until October 1. So instead, we’re doing a comprehensive review of every aspect of the special packaging. Enjoy! Rust: There are streaks of a rust-like substance spa
Renga, the real-life multiplayer game/film/art installation named for an ancient form of Japanese collaborative poetry, is coming to New York. Creators Adam Russell and John Sear will present their work, in which audience members guide a spaceship with laser pointers, on Sunday at Lincoln Center. Th
Wired with the tale of a creator and the pupil who may just best him: Cavanagh congratulated Killingsworth over Twitter when he posted proof of his new high score. Even if he’s not the best at everything, Cavanagh still delights in having created a brutally difficult game. Only 19 of its roughly 50,
Mental Floss investigates a mystery that has haunted me for more than two decades. So, dear readers, all signs point to no: blowing in the cartridge did not help. My money is on the blowing thing being a pure placebo, offering the user just another chance at getting a good connection. The problems
Via Joystiq, some excellent future-shock news for this first Monday of fall 2012. Just say that outloud. Fall 2012! We are actually already living in the future. Next year is flippin’ 2013! Ok: The patent, titled “Process and Apparatus for Automatically Identifying User of Consumer Electronics,” des
Anodyne is a Zeldish adventure that eschews Hyrule (or some cousin thereof) for a world a measure more fantastical: the imagination of the hero, Young. For you, gentle reader, of the internet-addled cognitions and arid life of the mind, this will be quite a novel experience! Start slow, with a free
Anyone who plays college sports videogames will know the absurd experience of playing as athletes modeled faithfully in appearance and ability after current college players, who are referred in the game to only by number. This, of course, is a consequence of the NCAA’s prohibition against amateur at
1UP has a great take on the prurient Western conversation about Japanese sex games. This thoughtful piece both examines what our obsession with “perverted” Japan says about us, and the actual place of these games in Japanese culture. For the interested, a great companion piece is Richard Bernstein’s
Over at Wired, a really good look at the pared-down Tokyo Games Show, which Microsoft did not attend for the first time in god knows how long, which featured a lot more “social and smartphone games” (read: NURT REEL GMEZ d00d) and a which ended in a well-attended rearranging-the-deck-chairs-contest.
Remember yesterday when I wrote “this is an industry in which creating a new story and a new set of characters is now considered a flamboyant risk”? Neither do I. But Yuji Naka, in this illuminating interview with the Verge, voices much the same sentiment. Imagine how sad it would be if great direct
