The Core Gamer Seige

Gamesindustry.biz has a fantastic article by Peter Moore detailing some of the struggles EA has had moving away from the traditional business model. Even if you don't agree with the sentiment, its a great look inside the thinking of big game publishers.

Does the Time Make the Game?

Yesterday Hideo Kojima had a great roundtable discussion about his series, Metal Gear Solid, and how he views the issue of taking on real world issues in video games. Here it is:

The Successful Relaunch

Gamasutra has a great interview with Naoki Yoshida, the producer and director of SquareEnix MMO FFXIV: A Realm Reborn.

200

Its March now, the big games are coming down the pipeline. Dark Souls II, Titanfall, FFX/X-2 Remaster, inFamous: Second Son, and MGS V; are all games that are highly anticipated. Whether you own next-gen, last gen or a handheld system there is much to be excited for this month and the ones to come. Marking the 200^th post has made me reflective and looking backwards I have pored over the ones I could have done better. I want to start by saying Mea Culpa. I haven’t always been right in what I foresaw for the industry. The Tomb Raider reboot was of the highest excellence, I found out after playing the PS4 DE edition. While I was hesitant to latch onto the idea of a reboot being necessary after the trilogy that began with the excellent Tomb Raider: Legend I can acknowledge that Crystal Dynamics did an outstanding job with the IP. It wasn’t the only thing I got wrong but it stands out to me as one of the biggest.

The Three S's

 It’s come down from on high that Capcom’s Deep Down, a F2P PS4 exclusive, is not allowing female characters to be created in the game. As the pronouncement was translated in an interview from Japanese to English, one has to take it with a grain of salt. Translation errors have accounted for more than a few embarrassments, so while things look grim on that front, there’s always hope. Whatever happens in the end though, it’s another stab in the gut for the industry. Video games are one of the only forms of entertainment that have a few good women fronting popular series. The reboot of Tomb Raider was quite good, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, The Last of Us, are all examples of strong female leads.

The Trust of a Hero

Have your ever noticed that the hero is never trusted? Superman and Batman, Buffy and Angel, Master Chief and Cortana; every modern hero has to face the idea that the very people that they save, that they fight with every day will end up mistrusting them. It’s something of a modern convention. In the old days calling a man a liar was paramount to signing your death warrant. A gentleman would have you at ten paces by the dawn, and in the west if you weren’t shot outright, you’d be looking at a six shooter on a dusty main street.

Galactic Starfighter Expert Scout Guide

So you want to play the Scout class in The Old Republic’s latest expansion? There are a few guidelines to set forth before we get to the meat of the guide. First of all the Scout class is a dagger class, you need to get in quick and get out quick, and the best damage comes from getting up close. To have any real chance of taking out an enemy, especially a better armored one than yourself you need to be within about five thousand meters from the enemy ship. You are given the Blackbolt/NovaDive free of charge and must unlock the Sting/Flashfire but be aware that the two scout ships do not play exactly alike.