Call of Duty, Game Design, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Call of Duty emerged in 2003, bringing another WWII FPS into our hands. The tight narrative was a prominent feature, enveloping players into the story of the game. With Activision using a “leapfrog strategy,” alternating between Infinity Ward and Treyarch, and now finishing development on CoD5: World at War, what’s expected for the future?
Ever since the announcement that the 5th installment of Capcom’s hit franchise Resident Evil would be set in Africa, I knew there would be trouble. With the trailer filled with images of black Africans carrying rakes, causing violence, and being shot: it played out pretty much exactly as I expected…
Gamers have long attempted to validate the numerous wasted hours glued to their screens. Several arguments, such as improved hand/eye coordination, memory, and problem-solving skills, have held their ground. However, an emerging argument, which seemingly trumps all others, has found such a solid foothold that retort seems impossible: “Video games could save my life.”
With the incredible amount of hype at E3 for big games coming out in the next year—Little Big Planet, Spore, Resident Evil V, Final Fantasy XIII to name a few—there are bound to be some games slipping under the radar. One such game is Mirror’s Edge, coming from EA DICE, the Swedish development team best known for their Battlefield series. But is this game anything like Battlefield? Nope. Turned off? Keep reading.
Game Design, Gamer Culture, Technology
School shootings are horrible events, and video games are often vilified if it’s learned the shooter(s) played them. This is magnified when some disturbed individual makes a game which glorifies the shooter. But what about a game where the object is to deal with the grief after such an incident? One game developer wants to create such a game, using the Virginia Tech shooting from 2007 as his scenario.
Master Chief has faced down an artificial intelligence with universal genocidal tendencies, ruthless warring alien races, and viral life forms. And ultimately, he prevailed. All to save a little-known place called the universe. (You can thank him later.) Yet, there may be one foe that could prove to be…too primitive…for the Chief to handle: the board game.
Gamer Culture, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a heated battle for second place close to anything like what we’re seeing between the PS3 and the Xbox 360. While the PS3 isn’t receiving too much love in America, there’s a whole other story in Japan: it’s actually catching up to the weekly sales numbers of the Wii. Meanwhile, the 360 flops around like pre-sushi. The PS3 enjoying a lead over the 360 in Japan isn’t exactly new news, but the contrasting sales figures between Japan and the USA make you wonder why this is.
Shotguns, chainsaws, hell spawn, tight corridors, the BFG, and a whole bunch of ass kicking. In case you’ve been living under a rock since 1993, Doom helped to define the FPS genre. With the possible exception of the Wolfenstein series, I’m not sure that any game was a better virtual babysitter during my teen years. Fifteen years since its conception and four years since Doom 3 scared the crap out of us, id Software has finally announced Doom 4. With next to nothing revealed about the game itself, speculation is the order of the day.
As is the case with many early-stage game announcements, the press release seems to be more of an advertisement to lure promising game developers than anything else. There’s no trailer, teaser, screenshots or concept art. We’re not even positive that the game will be using the id Tech 5 gaming engine, which was revealed last summer. That said, the announcement did contain some interesting tidbits that may give some insights into the next installment in this venerable franchise.
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