13 April 2012
Work, Work
Friday's article should go up sometime Saturday. I just got back from work after a very long day, and I have to get up in four hours to go back, followed by a few hours at home, and then going back in the afternoon to close again.
12 April 2012
Take My Control... Please!
Today's article is about Smash Bros., but it's really not about Smash Bros.
I originally intended to write about several different instances of what I've dubbed "Control Texture," but it's exceedingly rare. One could make the argument that that driving games have textured controls - there's a curve to acceleration, the car handles differently on different surfaces - but this is control which is still perfectly predictable.
That's why I focused on one game for the article, but I have another example of the effectiveness of textured controls.. Outside of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the best use of random (but purposeful) control flaws is in Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. As you encounter horrific monsters in Eternal Darkness, your character loses sanity, and eventually you experience fourth-wall-breaking "Sanity Effects." Bugs crawl across your TV screen, blood drips from the walls, and your character's head falls off and recites Shakespeare, to name a few of the many hallucinations. Afterwards, the game generally admits that it's messing with you. The screen flashes, and your character shouts, "This can't be happening!"
But sometimes it's more subtle. Sometimes your character will swing his or her weapon without input from the controller. You'll press left, and your character will drift right for a split second before obeying your command. I would argue that this fine texture - the barely perceptible randomness in the controls - goes further in toying with the player than any other effect in Eternal Darkness.
As the definition of video games expands, I want to see more of that.
I originally intended to write about several different instances of what I've dubbed "Control Texture," but it's exceedingly rare. One could make the argument that that driving games have textured controls - there's a curve to acceleration, the car handles differently on different surfaces - but this is control which is still perfectly predictable.
But sometimes it's more subtle. Sometimes your character will swing his or her weapon without input from the controller. You'll press left, and your character will drift right for a split second before obeying your command. I would argue that this fine texture - the barely perceptible randomness in the controls - goes further in toying with the player than any other effect in Eternal Darkness.
As the definition of video games expands, I want to see more of that.
11 April 2012
Don't Take My Word For It!
Writing online is one thing, but we all know that the only way to achieve legitimacy as an author is to have a real book published. That's why I'm so pleased to share an excerpt from my upcoming release. I'm still looking for a publisher, so if you work in the hardcover business and you're interested in making THE BIG MONEY, set up a meeting with my people.
Multinational publishing offers only, please. I don't have time to waste with people who aren't serious.
Here are few illustrations that didn't make it into the book:
Multinational publishing offers only, please. I don't have time to waste with people who aren't serious.
Here are few illustrations that didn't make it into the book:
10 April 2012
Get a Job
Sha na-na nah! Na-na-na na-nah!
Hey! Here's my first personal essay on this site that I don't hate! The woman in this story was actually super nice, and so was her daughter. They both seemed cooler than cool, but I'm so sick of having this same conversation that I had to write something about it, and they were, unfortunately, the most recent offenders. Sorry! Wrong place at the wrong time, dudettes.
Hey! Here's my first personal essay on this site that I don't hate! The woman in this story was actually super nice, and so was her daughter. They both seemed cooler than cool, but I'm so sick of having this same conversation that I had to write something about it, and they were, unfortunately, the most recent offenders. Sorry! Wrong place at the wrong time, dudettes.
09 April 2012
Women and Men
You, Me, and the Cubes is available for 200 Club Nintendo FunBuxx this month in America. It's an excellent way to spend your fun money, but I'd recommend it even if you have to pay actual legal currency.
My review doesn't go into much detail about the music or the multiplayer mode, but rest assured, every part of You, Me, and the Cubes is just as wonderfully and woefully discomfiting as what I've described.
I also neglected to mention the game's creator, Kenji Eno, although knowing he made it undoubtedly influenced my conviction that You, Me, and the Cubes is about more than tipping boxes in space. I found a fascinating ten-page interview Shane Bettenhausen and James Mielke conducted with Eno prior to this game's release while preparing this critique, and I highly recommend reading the whole article, even if you've never heard of Kenji Eno before.
My review doesn't go into much detail about the music or the multiplayer mode, but rest assured, every part of You, Me, and the Cubes is just as wonderfully and woefully discomfiting as what I've described.
I also neglected to mention the game's creator, Kenji Eno, although knowing he made it undoubtedly influenced my conviction that You, Me, and the Cubes is about more than tipping boxes in space. I found a fascinating ten-page interview Shane Bettenhausen and James Mielke conducted with Eno prior to this game's release while preparing this critique, and I highly recommend reading the whole article, even if you've never heard of Kenji Eno before.
08 April 2012
Hopping Down the Yoshi Trail
Happy Easter, one and all!
Today's article was inspired by a 1993 Mario Paint-themed Easter egg decorating kit that own, despite the current year being 2012. Remember the days when a drawing application could get a big marketing blitz? I wonder if I still have my Mario Paint brushes (free in select boxes of Kellogg's cereals). Of course, there's a reason those days ended. What is Mario Paint's identity? Are kids going to paint the flyswatter from the minigame on their Easter eggs? That must be why Paas gave up halfway through and turned this into a Zelda "Egg-Quest."
From Agahnim and all of us at Hot Lavy, have a safe and wonderful Easter!
Today's article was inspired by a 1993 Mario Paint-themed Easter egg decorating kit that own, despite the current year being 2012. Remember the days when a drawing application could get a big marketing blitz? I wonder if I still have my Mario Paint brushes (free in select boxes of Kellogg's cereals). Of course, there's a reason those days ended. What is Mario Paint's identity? Are kids going to paint the flyswatter from the minigame on their Easter eggs? That must be why Paas gave up halfway through and turned this into a Zelda "Egg-Quest."
From Agahnim and all of us at Hot Lavy, have a safe and wonderful Easter!
07 April 2012
Saturday Supplemental - Everything Free in America
Dragon Quest x Google Maps: 8-bit Google Maps for NES!
If you have an Internet connection, and I'm betting you do, there's a good chance you've already seen Google's 2012 April Fool's Day gag. While the "Quest" maps are no longer active, this video is certainly worth your time if you missed it last weekend.
Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’: Best Games of 2011
This is the best kind of HAWP episode - fast, funny, and far more insightful than a silly sketch about two people arguing over video games has any right to be. I'm going to be quoting Ash's line from the end of this one for a long time. (Bonus: The first new HAWPcast in months.)
Gridiron Solitaire!
Bill Harris announces his first game, a combination solitaire/football game. As I've said before on this very site, football is man's most boring creation, but after years of reading Bill's writing about both life and games, I can't wait to see the fruits of this passion project. Plus, it was inspired solitaire/golf hybrid Fairway Solitaire, which managed to be great despite its golf roots.
MolyJam Game Archive System
A depository of over 300 games made at last weekend's "What Would Molydeux?" gamejam. I haven't even begun to sort through these, but expect to hear more about this in an upcoming Sunday Free Game.
Electronic Arts named worst company in America, reacts to news
That headline isn't referring to video game companies. That's out of all companies in America. I'm glad to see The Consumerist challenging EA, but America's worst company? Are they kidding?
Grasshopper's Suda on Lollipop Chainsaw and the new media landscape
More questionable statements about the landscape of American business, but this time they're coming from Suda51, and that guy is the best.
Parenting Is Not an Escort Mission
Joel Goodwin lambastes game developers for the lazy way parenting is depicted in games, and offers alternatives.
If you have an Internet connection, and I'm betting you do, there's a good chance you've already seen Google's 2012 April Fool's Day gag. While the "Quest" maps are no longer active, this video is certainly worth your time if you missed it last weekend.
Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’: Best Games of 2011
This is the best kind of HAWP episode - fast, funny, and far more insightful than a silly sketch about two people arguing over video games has any right to be. I'm going to be quoting Ash's line from the end of this one for a long time. (Bonus: The first new HAWPcast in months.)
Gridiron Solitaire!
Bill Harris announces his first game, a combination solitaire/football game. As I've said before on this very site, football is man's most boring creation, but after years of reading Bill's writing about both life and games, I can't wait to see the fruits of this passion project. Plus, it was inspired solitaire/golf hybrid Fairway Solitaire, which managed to be great despite its golf roots.
MolyJam Game Archive System
A depository of over 300 games made at last weekend's "What Would Molydeux?" gamejam. I haven't even begun to sort through these, but expect to hear more about this in an upcoming Sunday Free Game.
Electronic Arts named worst company in America, reacts to news
That headline isn't referring to video game companies. That's out of all companies in America. I'm glad to see The Consumerist challenging EA, but America's worst company? Are they kidding?
Grasshopper's Suda on Lollipop Chainsaw and the new media landscape
More questionable statements about the landscape of American business, but this time they're coming from Suda51, and that guy is the best.
Parenting Is Not an Escort Mission
Joel Goodwin lambastes game developers for the lazy way parenting is depicted in games, and offers alternatives.
For a small fee in America.
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