Tag: gaming

There won't be any video games.

Posted on by anninyn

So, my life is so utterly dull right now it’s untrue. I wake up, I study some, I look for a job, I write some fiction, I go to bed. Sometimes I go on a run (I am really excited for the release of Zombies Run! for android, because I’m pathetic) or do some weights. The rest of the time I play computer games. Mostly Skyrim. I’m so obsessed with this game I have the OST on my writing soundtrack. I nearly had an orgasm over the Dawnguard trailer.

 

So, it’s perhaps a little understandable that my Apocalypse Obsession is being quiet right now (though it’s still there. When studying Pugin and his role in the Gothic revival I was like ‘bloke designed defendable buildings, I’ll  give him that.’ I visited a Cathedral built in the Gothic Revival style, and while other people were praying to their god, I said to my husband ‘Barricade the doors and you have a pretty decent emergency shelter if you board up those big windows.’)

So, I wanna talk about some more things I’ll miss post apocalypse, I have to say that right now the thing  I’ll miss most is….

 

Video games.

GOD I LOVE THEM. SO MUCH.

I mean, I love reading more, but when I’m too tired or distracted or sad or whatever to read, a video game provides the required immersion and reality avoidance with minimal mental effort on my part. I get to feel real human emotions in a muted form about things that don’t matter, and most importantly I get to rack up a terrifying kill count without being arrested because the 1137 people I killed were just pixels.

It sounds like I’m dissing the medium, but I’m not. When I say I love them, I mean I actually love them. I am occasionally critical of bad games or the culture of racism and sexism within the industry, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love them. They’re capable of telling real, emotionally affecting stories in a deeply immersivve medium, which is fucking great. Love em. Passionately and positively. I don’t bitch about it when a game isn’t what I want- I am just sad and quietly resolve to not buy the next one as soon as it comes out (Fable 3 I AM LOOKING AT YOU.) This is my hobby, I enjoy it, I generally feel positive about it. I have my favourite franchises like everyone, but I’ll give new stuff a try (By the Way, Enslaved is a shockingly underrated and undersold little game set post apocalypse. It’s pretty cheap these days so if you spot a copy, grab it), but I don’t get overly invested in games in the way I do books. A game has shocked me, often (Bioshock), made me sad in a sort of nice way (Fallout 3 and New Vegas, when coming across the remnants of life before the war) but I’ve never been the sort to cry over a computer game. Throw my controller, sure, but cry, or jump around in happiness? I save that for books. What games do for me is to take myself away from whatever else is happening in my world and make it better for a little bit. I can be an incredible person with magic powers instead of an unemployed 26 year old in rented accomodation.

Post apocalypse, they’ll be gone. Even if elecrtricity is still about, we won’t have enough of it to dedicate to my desperately important Skyrim schedule. And I will REALLY, REALLY CARE ABOUT THIS. Because while I love to read, there are going to be plenty of bookstores to loot, so I won’t run out of new books too soon (though I will kill myself if all that’s left is Dan Brown). And I love to tell stories, but I can do that with my mouth. Video games kinda require modern technology, and there won’t really be anything comparable around, any more. There’ll be nothing that can take me out of my shitty world in the way gaming can, nothing to make me feel amazing, nothing to take out a bad day on, just my unending, heart-crushing life.

 

God, I’ll be stuck with with table top roleplaying. And three of the people on my team are Rules Lawyers. KILL ME NOW.

Dead Island – Game of the Year Edition

Posted on by tavia.

Dead Island GOTYE X360Deep Silver must be proud of Dead Island. Why? Because they’re giving it a fully loaded Game of the Year Edition. Sure that doesn’t actually mean it’s won or even been nominated for anything but it’s nice to be recognized—even if it is by yourself.

Dead Island – Game of the Year Edition isn’t really, for recognition or even for Deep Silver, it’s for us. Well I own the game already. It’s for those of you who don’t already own Dead Island and weren’t really to ready to commit.

See in a Game of the Year Edition you often, including this time, get all the DLC that first round buyers paid extra for. Lucky you, loser me.

Patience is a virtue in many an apocalypse. So, if you didn’t run to the store and throw money at the clerks like you were stocking up for some lean times in your fall out shelter, you can sit back and get the game with the following perks (also, GOTY editions are usually cheaper than initial releases):

Dead Island has already grown a huge fan base, having sold way over 3 million copies worldwide. This new edition gives players who are yet to experience the mega hit Dead Island a version packed with content: including the “Bloodbath Arena” mode, the “Ryder White” story line and the weapon blueprint for “The Ripper”. This complete Dead Island package includes all the gripping extra content that was previously only available digitally.

“Ryder White”:
This story line offers a new unique perspective into the incidents in the main story of Dead Island: This time the player will get the chance to play as Ryder White, the antagonist of the main game; learn more about his motivations and why, from his point of view, he did what he had to do. This fresh take on the Dead Island story shows Ryder White both as a military man and a loving husband. The story stars Ryder White as a newly playable character and offers a single player campaign with several hours of story content with twists and turns that will shed new light on the happenings in the main game. Two blueprints and weapons will further expand the already impressive arsenal of Dead Island.

“Bloodbath Arena”:
In “Bloodbath Arena” four different arenas offer new challenges that can be played alone or in coop mode. It’s a desperate fight for survival where waves after waves of unrelenting zombies attack, one more gruesome than the next! In “Bloodbath Arena” characters can loot experience points and items and bring them over to the campaign mode. Players can show off their skills in zombie fighting with the newly implemented leaderboards.

“Dead Island – Game of the Year Edition” will be released on June 26, 2012 in the USA and Canada and on July 06, 2012 in European countries for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC.

Source: Deep Silver press release – Tuesday 22nd May 2012

Dead Island – Game of the Year Edition

Posted on by tavia.

Dead Island GOTYE X360Deep Silver must be proud of Dead Island. Why? Because they’re giving it a fully loaded Game of the Year Edition. Sure that doesn’t actually mean it’s won or even been nominated for anything but it’s nice to be recognized—even if it is by yourself.

Dead Island – Game of the Year Edition isn’t really, for recognition or even for Deep Silver, it’s for us. Well I own the game already. It’s for those of you who don’t already own Dead Island and weren’t really to ready to commit.

See in a Game of the Year Edition you often, including this time, get all the DLC that first round buyers paid extra for. Lucky you, loser me.

Patience is a virtue in many an apocalypse. So, if you didn’t run to the store and throw money at the clerks like you were stocking up for some lean times in your fall out shelter, you can sit back and get the game with the following perks (also, GOTY editions are usually cheaper than initial releases):

Dead Island has already grown a huge fan base, having sold way over 3 million copies worldwide. This new edition gives players who are yet to experience the mega hit Dead Island a version packed with content: including the “Bloodbath Arena” mode, the “Ryder White” story line and the weapon blueprint for “The Ripper”. This complete Dead Island package includes all the gripping extra content that was previously only available digitally.

“Ryder White”:
This story line offers a new unique perspective into the incidents in the main story of Dead Island: This time the player will get the chance to play as Ryder White, the antagonist of the main game; learn more about his motivations and why, from his point of view, he did what he had to do. This fresh take on the Dead Island story shows Ryder White both as a military man and a loving husband. The story stars Ryder White as a newly playable character and offers a single player campaign with several hours of story content with twists and turns that will shed new light on the happenings in the main game. Two blueprints and weapons will further expand the already impressive arsenal of Dead Island.

“Bloodbath Arena”:
In “Bloodbath Arena” four different arenas offer new challenges that can be played alone or in coop mode. It’s a desperate fight for survival where waves after waves of unrelenting zombies attack, one more gruesome than the next! In “Bloodbath Arena” characters can loot experience points and items and bring them over to the campaign mode. Players can show off their skills in zombie fighting with the newly implemented leaderboards.

“Dead Island – Game of the Year Edition” will be released on June 26, 2012 in the USA and Canada and on July 06, 2012 in European countries for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC.

Source: Deep Silver press release – Tuesday 22nd May 2012

Review: Zombie Granny (Android)

Posted on by tavia.

Zombie Granny is not a game to just download and play on a whim. Sure it’s readily available and free[1. Our favorite Price] but it’s also missing a shit ton of images that take like eight years to download. My actual grandma’s make shit happen faster and Ms. Pearl was legally blind and thought my computer was damn near magical.

I found if I don’t let the device snooze and keep touching the phone it update more quickly… good start.

Yay! It finally finished.

My first impression is that it’s kind of a lot like Cut The Rope, but instead of trying to feed the frog candy you’re trying to kill the Zombie Granny with a fireball. Then, a few levels in, I thought it’s kind of like Angry Birds.

So, Zombie Granny is kind of like Cut the Rope and Angry Birds had a baby and it had a sick morbid sense of humor.

The gameplay is fairly simple and easy to get accustomed to, especially since the first few levels are tutorial levels. There’s a fireball attached to a rope and you cut the rope and drop the fireball on the unsuspecting zombie granny below.

While the gameplay is straightforward the concept kind of bothers me. Where’s my motivation? This poor old lady is just standing about, not even trying to munch on my brains and I just murder her like it a terrorist.

Next weird conceptual thing? Why are there fireballs just suspended from here and there? This isn’t even like a Mario dungeon level where the fireball are swinging around like traps and trying to impede your progress. These are like decorations.

Morals and logic aside, this is after all just a mobile phone game, the graphics are great and it’s super cute and wonderfully simple. This is a fun little zombie game with just the right about of snark and morbid nonsense to keep you entertained on a long commute or wait in a lobby.

[rating:3.5/5]

I’d let Zombie Granny live– at least until the water got low or she started to stink up the place.

 

Bandits Will be Bandits | The Last of Us

Posted on by tavia.

Cowards! The lot of them. Bandits and Highway Men are constantly trying to play on the sympathies of  those of us who don’t lack morals. They did it in The Book of Eli and They’re doing it again in The Last of Us.

Naughty Dog has been slow releasing information and videos about their upcoming post-apocalyptic video game. This time it’s a video!

The cinematic trailer shows a scene from a day in the life of Ellie and Joel… being ambushed by bandits on the road to who-knows-where.

Video description:

Joel and Ellie won’t have an easy road ahead of them. Their path across the US will intersect with other survivors, some of whom won’t be friendly. In this scene set to the somber chords of Hank Williams, Sr., Joel and Ellie continue their journey west in a battered pickup truck. As they drive towards the next destination on their route, and hopefully a place to find critical resources, the pair encounters a group of hunters. What happens next is something you have to witness to understand.

The Last of Us is genre-defining experience blending survival and action elements to tell a character driven story about a population decimated by a modern plague. Cities are abandoned and being reclaimed by nature. Remaining survivors are killing each other for food, weapons and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a young teenage girl who’s braver and wiser beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States.

Developed by Naughty Dog, The Last of Us is being made exclusively for the PS3 system.

Video:

[More about The Last of Us]

Telltale Games' The Walking Dead Video Game!

Posted on by tavia.

Ohmigawd, Ohmigawd, Ohmigawd! I’ll try to breath, but, it’s finally happening. No, not the apocalypse. The Walking Dead video game. They said it would but after waiting so long (at least it felt like so long) I thought, maybe it was just an idea that wouldn’t really come to full fruition.

Then, one day, I saw the AMC choose your own adventure motion comic game thing, Dead Reckoning, and thought that was the game. I mean, it was awesome but not what I expected from Telltale Games. They make games not promotional content. (By the way, check out the AMC promotional games for The Walking Dead, they’re generally awesome.)

Finally, today, I got the press release  along with the video for the “Choice Matters” trailer:

Tellale explains the details in today’s press release:

Telltale Games and Robert Kirkman, the Eisner Award-winning creator and writer of The Walking Dead for Skybound Entertainment and Image Comics, announced today that the first episode of the game series based on the critically acclaimed comic book series, The Walking Dead, is now available for download.  Players can purchase the PC and Mac versions from the Telltale Games Online Store, as well as Steam and other digital distribution services.  The first episode is also available for download now on PlayStation®Network for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and will be available Friday, April 27th on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Every system (except the Zelda/Mario/Exercise console)!

Continue reading “Telltale Games' The Walking Dead Video Game!”

The PROTOTYPE® 2 live action, choose your own adventure, 18+, UK Advert

Posted on by tavia.

Sgt James HellerPROTOTYPE® 2 is  bring democracy to the UK to  spur capitalism as a marketing venture. It’s a lot to wrap your head around, I know. But, in a nutshell:

1. There’s a new advertisement for PROTOTYPE® 2 in the UK. Rather game play or a cinematic trailer, it’s got actors—Real people playing the roles  of characters typically animated by designers.

2. If you’re on facebook, you can vote on the ending of this advertisement.

3. PROTOTYPE® 2 is a very violent game and to stay true to that, this ad will be as well. Therefor, this ad will be ran post-watershed and recommended for viewers over the age of 18.

4. This is a thing is happening in the UK.

Check out the Press release from Activision for more information:

PROTOTYPE 2®, the sequel to Radical Entertainment’s original best-selling game of 2009, will be launched in the UK with the world’s first ever over-18 live outdoor advertisement.

At an iconic west London location at 9:00 p.m. (BST) on Sunday 22nd April, the live ad will feature actors playing the parts of PROTOTYPE 2’s new protagonist Sgt. James Heller and his nemesis Alex Mercer, as well as Blackwatch military and the disease-ridden Infected.

Recreating action from the game, including a gruesome and bloody confrontation between the Heller and Mercer, the content has been recommended as only suitable for those over the age of 18 due its explicit nature, with an agreement to perform it post-watershed in order to avoid a younger audience.

“Due to the nature of PROTOTYPE 2’s content, the game has been rated by the BBFC and PEGI as certificate 18.  This live action advertisement reflects the game in its hard-hitting, fantasy nature and whilst we’re excited to bring this new game to our legions of fans, it would be inappropriate for under 18s to view it” commented David Tyler, Activision’s Minneapolis Business Unit EU General Manager.

The five minute long experience will be streamed live on the PROTOTYPE 2’s official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/prototype for those of age unable to experience the action live, offering fans around the world a chance to watch the production unfold.

As the PROTOTYPE 2 live ad reaches its crescendo, fans will have the opportunity to vote for one of two endings via the PROTOTYPE 2 Facebook page from 20th April.  The ending that receives the most votes will feature as part of the grand finale of the advertisement.

To watch the PROTOTYPE 2 live ad stream and vote on the ending, head over to www.facebook.com/prototype.  While there, be sure to join the PROTOTYPE Army – a community of over 453,000 (and growing) fans that receive constant updates from the team at Radical.  To find out more about PROTOTYPE 2, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/radical_ent and check out the game’s official Web site at www.prototypegame.com for the latest trailers, screenshots, special promotions and more!

…

PROTOTYPE 2 will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system on 24th April 2012, and for Windows® PC on 24th July 2012.

The PROTOTYPE® 2 live action, choose your own adventure, 18+, UK Advert

Posted on by tavia.

Sgt James HellerPROTOTYPE® 2 is  bring democracy to the UK to  spur capitalism as a marketing venture. It’s a lot to wrap your head around, I know. But, in a nutshell:

1. There’s a new advertisement for PROTOTYPE® 2 in the UK. Rather game play or a cinematic trailer, it’s got actors—Real people playing the roles  of characters typically animated by designers.

2. If you’re on facebook, you can vote on the ending of this advertisement.

3. PROTOTYPE® 2 is a very violent game and to stay true to that, this ad will be as well. Therefor, this ad will be ran post-watershed and recommended for viewers over the age of 18.

4. This is a thing is happening in the UK.

Check out the Press release from Activision for more information:

PROTOTYPE 2®, the sequel to Radical Entertainment’s original best-selling game of 2009, will be launched in the UK with the world’s first ever over-18 live outdoor advertisement.

At an iconic west London location at 9:00 p.m. (BST) on Sunday 22nd April, the live ad will feature actors playing the parts of PROTOTYPE 2’s new protagonist Sgt. James Heller and his nemesis Alex Mercer, as well as Blackwatch military and the disease-ridden Infected.

Recreating action from the game, including a gruesome and bloody confrontation between the Heller and Mercer, the content has been recommended as only suitable for those over the age of 18 due its explicit nature, with an agreement to perform it post-watershed in order to avoid a younger audience.

“Due to the nature of PROTOTYPE 2’s content, the game has been rated by the BBFC and PEGI as certificate 18.  This live action advertisement reflects the game in its hard-hitting, fantasy nature and whilst we’re excited to bring this new game to our legions of fans, it would be inappropriate for under 18s to view it” commented David Tyler, Activision’s Minneapolis Business Unit EU General Manager.

The five minute long experience will be streamed live on the PROTOTYPE 2’s official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/prototype for those of age unable to experience the action live, offering fans around the world a chance to watch the production unfold.

As the PROTOTYPE 2 live ad reaches its crescendo, fans will have the opportunity to vote for one of two endings via the PROTOTYPE 2 Facebook page from 20th April.  The ending that receives the most votes will feature as part of the grand finale of the advertisement.

To watch the PROTOTYPE 2 live ad stream and vote on the ending, head over to www.facebook.com/prototype.  While there, be sure to join the PROTOTYPE Army – a community of over 453,000 (and growing) fans that receive constant updates from the team at Radical.  To find out more about PROTOTYPE 2, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/radical_ent and check out the game’s official Web site at www.prototypegame.com for the latest trailers, screenshots, special promotions and more!

…

PROTOTYPE 2 will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system on 24th April 2012, and for Windows® PC on 24th July 2012.

Kill 'em With… Cards? | Zombie Jombie (iOS)

Posted on by tavia.

Zombie Jombie is a new iOS game launching today from GREE. The well designed (artistically speaking) game sounds like a unique and interesting butload of fun:

The ultimate weapons – ZOMBIES – are under your control! In this twist of events, the zombies are finally the good guys, and now they are yours to use in battle against the nastiest humans around! As a Jombie (one who can control zombies), the fate of the planet is in your hands as you defend city invasions by evil bosses who will stop at nothing to achieve total global domination.

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That sounds awesome! And the zombies are cartooney but not lame. Then I read on:

This new iOS-exclusive title is a free-to-play card-based game that invites players to harness the power of the undead using a powerful deck of zombie cards while defending the earth from evil humans hell-bent on destruction. Offering a series of social features including the ability to trade cards and play with or against friends, Zombie Jombie takes an unconventional approach to the zombie genre and brings a new type of gameplay to mobile gaming.

In Zombie Jombie, players battle tough human bosses and complete quests in major U.S. cities as a “Jombie” – a powerful being with a unique ability to raise and control zombies. To accomplish these tasks, players build and customize their own distinctive deck of cards by trading with friends, fusing multiple cards together, and opening treasure chests that unlock special content. Because of the variety of ways players can upgrade and power-up their card decks, each Zombie Jombie player will have an exclusive experience. Zombie Jombie  will also have on-going content updates offering new game features and aiming to continuously enhance the player experience.

It sounds like the best idea for a game combined with the worst type of gameplay. People in asylums or old folks homes, or stranded without power, or using Windows 95 play card games by themselves. Sure, there’s Magic the Gathering and Munchkin ect. but you play those with people and for hours.

I’m going to have to check it out, because even though it sound a bit awful , it looks really fun and cute and silly and new and different…

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and it’s FREE!

Find out more on GREE’s website[1. Do you think GREE rhymes with free intentionally?

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].

You May Now RAGE on a Mac

Posted on by tavia.

Why you’re trying to game on a Mac is beyond me, BUT if you choose to do that, you are now free to play RAGE on your fancy show piece[1. Think someone might not be a Mac person…?].

RAGE is the post-apocalyptic wasteland first person shooter complete with mutants and bandits and dune buggy races, oh my. Bethesda Softworks announced via a press release that the standard RAGE: Campaign Edition will come with features that were previously, on other consoles, only available in the special RAGE: Anarchy Edition:

In RAGE: Campaign Edition you will take on bandit gangs and hordes of mutants with an arsenal of exotic weapons and special items, such as Wingsticks, personal turrets, sentry bots, and remote-controlled bomb cars as you play through the game’s full unaltered single-player campaign. The Mac version will also include bonus equipment formerly exclusive to the RAGE Anarchy Edition, including a Double Barrel Shotgun, the Rat Rod Buggy, Fists of RAGE and Crimson Elite Armor. You’ll also have access to the Wasteland Sewers Missions which feature additional mutant blasting gameplay and looting opportunities.

Luckily for Mac gamers, this isn’t just a port from one system to another. id software worked with Aspyr to ensure that the game was just as good on the Mac as it is on real gaming platforms[2 Why are we encouraging them? They can’t even right-click.].

“Aspyr has been a great partner, bringing id Software’s games to the Mac platform for years,” said Todd Hollenshead, President of id Software.  “We’ve worked closely with them again to offer the amazing graphics and intense combat that RAGE is famous for to Mac gamers.”

It’s a video!