This is really the reason I'm thinking about buying the Wii U as my last console for the foreseeable future, then getting a decent PC for gaming. (I was just going to get a Wii, but I've since found out the Wii cancelled Gamecube backwards compatibility rather quietly. I really want some of those GC classics, so, I…

A Dust Bowl New Vegas hardcore mode-meets L.A. Noire would be pretty great. If you can't pay for gas in your car, you've got to walk or steal the gas, &c. Put players in the very, very rare scenario in which money is legitimately hard to come by, and crime means more than GTA-styled car chases. Your character's got a…

The funny thing about the new superhero movies is that a lot of them are actually using Chicago (as well as other cities), instead of sticking with NYC. Obviously, Batman used the city (since Gotham = Chicago), but Superman also filmed some stuff downtown and Spiderman 2 used Chicago instead of NYC for the L in that…

I know I've said it before, but I can't figure out how Chicago doesn't get more love than it currently does from video games. The architecture in Chi-town is absolutely amazing, the culture's brilliant, and the history of Chicago's rife with opportunities for interesting gameplay choices. I'm still scratching my head…

Maybe Duck Tales 2 (GameBoy version), Doom, or Jill of the Jungle... or Word Rescue. I do remember playing the living shit out of some Word Rescue.

I've had this happen in other games. (I don't have ME3, so I can't speak on that one.) People get cranky and think lower level = poor skills, never minding the idea that the person may simply not have actually played the multiplayer yet. Classic online idiocy.

I picked up The Chieftains' newest album on Amazon for $5 yesterday, and am giving a solid listen-through. Pretty great stuff - as always. However, The Chieftains always set me in a wondering/wandering mood, so here's a question for all y'all TAYers:

If we can cite Ellison as a paradigm shifter, then that previous mention of L4D should be sufficient for a paradigm shift in gaming. I know that's a little nit-picking, but: I like this article a lot, I just don't think that gaming is lagging behind as a unique thing. I think most of mainstream American culture is…

A lot of writers are, in their own ways, kind-hearted revolutionaries lovingly plotting the death of some fragment of American society, while others are a little more removed from that brand of good violence and prefer to serve flavors of nature and society in the hope of some natural tectonics towards harmony and…

Yeah - I kinda loved this ending. The game was a hell of a lot of fun, and then the ending's just great. Creating an effective conclusion doesn't necessarily require complete resolution. I think they got that down really, really nicely.

As a Civ veteran, I can fully vouch for a deeply ingrained belief that all computers are cheating and whatever result they give me is bullshit.

Wow... That just seems cruel. I've always wondered sometimes what developers are thinking when they present systems like that, but modify them substantially (like by adding a second dice to the roll). I'd be interested to hear what their train of thought is on the matter, because it seems counter-intuitive to present…

Oh, I'm well aware. It's "ignorance is bliss" - I think. Like I said, I'm actually happier swinging away at radroaches in Fallout 3 than I am knowing that I'm going to fail in Fallout 1 against those damn rats. The percentage on the UI gives a face to my ultimate failures, which just gets infuriating when you start to…

I was playing Fallout last night, when I ran into an ancient enemy: the percentage chance.

Apparently, the Japanese criminal justice system doesn't enforce particularly tough sentencing. It's weird when contrasted to the U.S. system, which is to more or less lock up anyone and everyone, that 14 years might be considered a fair sentence. (I think murder's usually closer to 25 years in the U.S., if you don't…

I feel a bit like the whole story isn't getting told here.

1) He can sign the contract legally? That's odd.

If people think Journey was pretentious, I'd hate to see them talk about the rest of art and literature.

As a kid, I used to play PC games a lot more than I do now, and I used to only own Nintendo consoles. It's kinda lookin' like I might just have to go back to that arrangement unless Sony pulls its head out of its ass. And that last bit's looking very unlikely.

I have to think they're too busy deflowering our Study Abroad coeds to really care.