An Academic Look at Dead or Alive 5

Six years into this console cycle, and we find the medium of electronic entertainment at a crossroads.

Mass Effect 3 One True Ending

Here’s a spoiler-free video I made to poke a little fun at the whole Mass Effect 3 ending upset. You probably have to have some familiarity with Mass Effect to have any idea what I’m talking about up there.

I’m actually not done with the game yet, so please no real spoilers.

Deus Ex: Human Repetition

“If only they would remake Deus Ex!” the people said. The game-makers,  eventually, listened.

And so we have Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It’s a decent enough game. If you like the original Deus Ex, then you’ll probably like this. If you didn’t, you probably won’t.

But here is the problem: It is just a remake of Deus Ex. That’s it. Rather than improve upon the original, Human Revolution rehashes it: same bad voiceover acting  and accents, same basic level design, nearly the same muddled plot, filled with conspiracy theories, and same awkward ending.

Tiny Tower isn’t a Game

Tiny Tower isn’t a game you guys. IT ISN’T EVEN A GAME. Oh my god, what am I doing with my life?!

Developed by NimbleBit (those guys what brought you Pocket Frogs), Tiny Tower is an iOS “game” where–look, I’ll just let NimbleBit tell you:

“Tiny Tower lets you build a tiny tower and manage the businesses and bitizens that inhabit it!”

NEATO! I don’t know what a bitizen is, but that sounds pretty cool, I guess. Fun, yeah? Fun. And look, it’s got this sweet pixelated art-style that’s bound to seduce every old-school gamer reading this right here. I’m sure this might even be attractive to some of you young hipster gamers who weren’t even alive when pixels were a thing we had to deal with. “Hey, remember Pixels?! We do too! Remember Sim Tower? Sorta? Just a little bit? Yeah, us too. Well, take everything you loved/sorta-remember about Sim Tower and put it on your phone!”

Now take everything out of it that makes it a game!

Why I Love Gears of War 3

Gears of War 3 is the first real ending to a videogame trilogy that I’ve ever seen. So many videogame series call themselves trilogies, but when it comes time to actually say goodbye, most refuse to go. They start to pack up their things, begin to tie up their storylines, but then they smile and nod at you and whisper, “Wait, I can still suck more money out of you! Let’s not tie up everything, okay?” Gears doesn’t do this, either with its story or its gameplay. This is the end of the Gears of War trilogy, and it feels like an ending, and that is the highest praise that I can bestow on it.

The gameplay is tighter than it’s ever been. I played through the game solo, on hardcore difficulty, and it never felt unfair. Every time I died, I earned that death, by doing something really really stupid. Gears of War has always forged a constant push and pull between taking cover and running directly into battle, and sometimes taking cover for too long will let a Locust get the drop on you, and sometimes running into battle will get you blown to bits before you can chainsaw your foe in the face. Gears 3 does a better job than any shooter before it of making you feel responsible for your death, not by punishing you, but by never cheating you. In Gears 3, you earn your success, and you earn your failure, every time.

Gears of War 3 – Epic Edition Unboxing

I got the Gears of War 3 Epic Edition a few days earlier (thanks SA Studios, Microsoft, and Epic Games!), so I made this little unboxing video so you all could see all the weird stuff in this big box.

Call of Duty XP – Journey into Madness

Adam attends the Call of Duty XP 2011 event in LA, but returns home from war a different person.

5HP – E3 Booth Babe 2011

Here’s a video I edited and did the special effects on. It features a series of scantily-clad women trying (and failing) to answer pretty simple videogame trivia questions. It was produced for Bitmob and Machinima.

Ubisoft Media Event E3 2011 Round Up

Adam attended the Ubisoft Press Conference at E3 2011 and has survived to make jokes about it. Here are the highlights of the show.

Microsoft Press Conference Wrap Up

Adam gives a quick rundown of the biggest news out of the Microsoft Press Conference.