Business, Casual Games, Console, Game Design, Gamer Culture
Gaming the Gimmick: Why It’s (Mostly) All Good
During a recent trip to Japan, I encountered an arcade cabinet that many would call a gimmick: a rail-shooter with sliding doors, named Elevator Action Death Parade. Having read about the game earlier this year, and with it right there in front of me, I couldn’t resist but pop in a coin to try it out.
A pair of physical doors slide open and shut like an elevator, which blocks and exposes the play screen. The doors get “stuck” and even shake at times in cue with the on-screen action behind it. Read More »
Rest in peace, guitar. Fabled tool of musical gods, stringed wonder upon which the craft of Carlos Santana, Jack Black, and countless others was plied, the end is nigh. You have been brought low by the bane of true musicians everywhere, that accursed Guitar Hero and its estranged cousin, Rock Band. Or have you? Has the music or rhythm game genre truly rendered you inert and unloved?
For all of those wannabe guitarists, mashing color-coded buttons on a plastic guitar, which has nothing to do with any type of real instrument playing, Disney has some good news. Soon you’ll be able to throw down those plastic toys, which resembles something found in the toddler section of your local kid store, and take up a real guitar. Disney has announced 
There was a time when console makers would release a light gun or an arcade stick, and that would be it. All you really needed to play the video games of yesteryear was a joypad and enough resolve to make it through an army of respawning enemies and spike pits. Of course, with the success of Guitar Hero and the Wii, GameStop and company are now more than willing to stock mountains of plastic instruments, balance boards, and other doodads. Fun stuff at the moment, certainly, but what are GotGame readers to do a year or two from now after the novelty has faded? It’s time to recycle all of that plastic…
Have you ever found yourself knee-deep in some sorry excuse for a game (that you undoubtedly spent at least $39.99 on) and made a snide remark that was utterly awesome, but was made with no one around to hear? Imagine playing with someone who cannot only agree with that remark, but make it way more hilarious than you could ever articulate. That’s what it would be like to play with the Escapist’s video review artist, Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw. 
You won’t be familiar with Harold Sakuishi unless you’re an anime or manga fan, but you should be. He has covered baseball, martial arts, and music in his manga, and his dense storylines would translate well into light RPGs and other genres. In particular, his 34-volume Beck Mongolian Chop Squad manga could be the end-all for music/RPG games.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, The Beatles are coming to Rock Band. The Fab Four announced Thursday they will be making their digital debut via a partnership with MTV and Harmonix, which looks to see the band featured in its own exclusive Rock Band title, slated for a holiday 2009 release. Of course, this is a major announcement for a plethora of reasons. The most important reason is hidden underneath the surface of this monstrous musical development. 