Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[(Delayed) Reaction Time: An addendum to 2012's best games]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/01/delayed-reaction-time-an-addendum-to-2012s-best-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/01/delayed-reaction-time-an-addendum-to-2012s-best-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/01/delayed-reaction-time-an-addendum-to-2012s-best-games/#comments You're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist."

Now that the Joystiq staff has recuperated from the verbal immolation and bizarre "hipster" categorization of their Game of the Year choices, I've decided to rescue and share my own runner-up list before it sinks even deeper between the couch cushions. These are all games worth playing, and I'd be irritated if I closed off my 2012 before talking about them just a little more.

(Besides, we have a guy on here who writes about games that are much older than, you know, Far Cry 3.)

Continue reading (Delayed) Reaction Time: An addendum to 2012's best games

Joystiq(Delayed) Reaction Time: An addendum to 2012's best games originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>3dsandroidiosipadiphonemicrosoftmobilenintendopcplaystationplaystation-vitaps3reaction-timevitaxboxFri, 01 Feb 2013 23:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Meeting Atypical Aliens and Assassins]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/12/meeting-atypical-aliens-and-assassins/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/12/meeting-atypical-aliens-and-assassins/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/12/meeting-atypical-aliens-and-assassins/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
This holiday's unceasing glut of games is a go, with store shelves making room for the onslaught of snarling aliens, sneering assassins, and slow-mo soldiers walking away from large explosions - or sometimes partially melted helicopters. These are the usual, commercially sexy suspects.

It's best not to judge a game by its cover, though, and this week's front-facing embellishments are exceptionally deceptive. At a shallow glance, XCOM: Enemy Unknown may seem like another case of meathead military dudes mowing down extraterrestrials. Dishonored, meanwhile, conveys a stylish stab-a-thon with its masked, supernaturally talented anti-hero out for revenge. Look longer and you'll find that both have roots in classic PC gaming, and both sell something console owners might not even know they want.

Continue reading Meeting Atypical Aliens and Assassins

JoystiqMeeting Atypical Aliens and Assassins originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>2k-gamesArkane-StudiosbethesdadishonoredFiraxis-Gamesmicrosoftpcplaystationps3reaction-timexboxxcom-enemy-unknownFri, 12 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Making a Monster out of Resident Evil]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/05/making-a-monster-out-of-resident-evil/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/05/making-a-monster-out-of-resident-evil/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/05/making-a-monster-out-of-resident-evil/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
The internet-borne response to this week's arrival of Resident Evil 6 has been illuminating. A surprising number of critics are ready to cast the game into a bonfire, and some incredulous fans wish the reviewers would join it. There's a perceptible feeling of disbelief amongst everyone involved, as if such a big, glossy production - with hundreds of developers behind it - could never lead to divided, divisive opinions.

It's happened before, of course, with Assassin's Creed in 2007. But that game landed on different expectations, its future as a franchise uncertain. The historical action game won fans and detractors in almost equal numbers at first, and went on to become one of Ubisoft's most powerful and most nurtured franchises. Players expect Assassin's Creed 3 to maintain the upward curve of quality, and the game's familiar mechanics and motifs make a massive critical failure almost unthinkable.

Therein lies the deceptive assumption of "AAA" games. With enough history, fan feedback, financial support and developers, we expect a well-tuned machine to emerge every time. There's a balance in the dialogue between players and creators, however, and Resident Evil 6 is a good (or bad, depending on your viewpoint) example of what happens when one drowns out the other. I couldn't even tell you if fans demanded too much, or if Capcom was too intent on placating them, to the point of ignoring its own design expertise.

Continue reading Making a Monster out of Resident Evil

JoystiqMaking a Monster out of Resident Evil originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>microsoftpcplaystationps3reaction-timeresident-evil-6xboxFri, 05 Oct 2012 19:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The Sound Summer of PSN]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/31/the-sound-summer-of-psn/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/31/the-sound-summer-of-psn/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/31/the-sound-summer-of-psn/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
Remember when the summer lull signaled a blissful break from the year's onslaught of new games? July was the perfect pitstop, where you'd catch up on that bloated backlog and shake off that vague, gnawing stress that comes from wanting to play everything and knowing you never will. There used to be a gap, right over here.

If things felt lethargic to you in August, you must not have been too keen on the downloadable games finding their way to the PlayStation Store - or the ones getting horribly lost and asking for directions to some nested nightmare in the current Xbox 360 dashboard.

Sony's efforts this year have been especially strong, with several standout games forming a loose alliance around music. The PlayStation Network hosted the debut of Dyad, a tumultuous, trippy shooter that puts your brain in a slingshot and fires it straight down a LED-lined tunnel. It's a product of Toronto's indie game scene and designer Shawn McGrath, who says it was relatively easy to gain Sony's stamp of approval.

Continue reading The Sound Summer of PSN

JoystiqThe Sound Summer of PSN originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dyadmicrosoftplaystationplaystation-vitaps3psnreaction-timeretro-gradesound-shapessummer-of-arcadevitaxblaxboxFri, 31 Aug 2012 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Darksiders 2: Death for a Salesman]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/10/darksiders-2-death-for-a-salesman/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/10/darksiders-2-death-for-a-salesman/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/10/darksiders-2-death-for-a-salesman/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
Darksiders 2 Death for a Salesman
As a mascot for what remains of THQ's 2012 lineup, there's no choice more awkward or more apt than Death. The stoic star of Darksiders 2, and one quarter of the world's scariest equine club, has become the de facto face for a troubled publisher. It's mean, clearly aligned with THQ's hardcore identity, and shows obvious signs of unkemptness and decay.

The company has resorted to drastic measures to stay in business and rebuild its pipeline, which was once packed with hastily assembled licensed fare and colorful games meant to enthuse a younger demographic. In shifting fully to hardcore products like Darksiders 2, THQ shirks the playfulness implied by its name - derived from "Toy Head-Quarters" - and gets down to serious business. If not irreversible, the situation has at least begun to reek, no thanks to the bodies sacrificed on an altar of second chances. The studio closures, layoffs, executive shuffles, and major cancellations (like Insane, a horror game conceptualized with film director Guillermo del Toro) are beginning to pile up.

We look to Darksiders 2 as a portent of THQ's recovery, though Death is not the single savior so much as an ironic proof of life. If the beleaguered corporation can effectively produce and market this important milestone - the kind of high-quality, traditional game that must sustain it from now on - it gives us reason not to write off the other THQ franchises that are on the cusp of widespread popularity. The "AAA" market is probably the worst place to make a last stand, considering the endangering expenditure required to make a big impact.

Continue reading Darksiders 2: Death for a Salesman

JoystiqDarksiders 2: Death for a Salesman originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>darksiders-2microsoftpcplaystationps3reaction-timexboxFri, 10 Aug 2012 15:30:00 EST<![CDATA[A Week Between Blockbusters]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/07/a-week-between-blockbusters/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/07/a-week-between-blockbusters/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/07/a-week-between-blockbusters/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
Thanks to a shared caution between movie studios, you were saved from seconds of paralyzing indecision last weekend. Had Total Recall and The Bourne Legacy stuck to a shared release date in theaters, as originally scheduled, you'd have become a seated participant in an extravagant and mutually destructive showdown. Between Colin Farrell and Jeremy Renner, which pouting action star would have gotten your twelve bucks and two hours?

If you're a movie buff, you might not even hesitate spending time and money on both consecutively. But what happens when you bump the price up to $60, and extend the temporal investment to something between 8 and 80 hours? Now you see the dilemma squeezed in-between this holiday's most anticipated shooters, Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and all of a sudden one week doesn't seem like much of a buffer at all.

Continue reading A Week Between Blockbusters

JoystiqA Week Between Blockbusters originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>343-industriesactivisioncall-of-duty-black-ops-2fpshalo-4hollywoodmicrosoftpcplaystationps3reaction-timeTreyarchxboxTue, 07 Aug 2012 20:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Can I Get a Pulse?]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/27/can-i-get-a-pulse/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/27/can-i-get-a-pulse/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/27/can-i-get-a-pulse/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
Psst. Hey, Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Are you dead? Don't answer that if you are.

The fate of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which has rarely been seen outside of lavish computer-generated video since it was announced in 2007 2006, has been debated and doubted enough to push the game well into the realm of vaporware. Yoichi Wada, the CEO of Square Enix, took to Twitter this week to euthanize our latest, seemingly premature obituaries. "It seems someone is spreading a false rumor about Versus being canceled," he wrote. I hope he lets us know as soon as someone starts spreading the real one.

His comment, while without evidence, represented the first proper answer to come out of Square, which up until then had done nothing to mitigate the "false rumor." The games press would love nothing more than to quash or confirm the story, and it's one that shouldn't be simpler to resolve. Is your game still in development? Y/N.

Continue reading Can I Get a Pulse?

JoystiqCan I Get a Pulse? originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>3dsbomberman-3dsfinal-fantasy-versus-xiiinintendoplaystationps3reaction-timesquare-enixFri, 27 Jul 2012 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Steam Summer Sale trap]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/20/the-steam-summer-sale-trap/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/20/the-steam-summer-sale-trap/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/20/the-steam-summer-sale-trap/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
I've already bought several games during this year's Steam Summer Sale, including Legend of Grimrock, an old-fashioned dungeon crawler with a modern veneer. Good for me! Oh, except Legend of Grimrock is a PC game. I don't even have a PC right now, and I've never bothered to set up a dual-boot partition on my MacBook Air. The dread of missing out on the deal was so great, it overwhelmed the fact that I don't even have the preferred equipment for the game.

It happens every year, as Valve gets more and more adept at carving off costs and doling out deals at the perfect pace - slowly enough to keep you coming back, but not fast enough to let you realize you're spending something you don't have.

Money isn't the problem. Spending five bucks on the latest indie gem, even if it's buried in a shopping minecart of indie gems, won't be the death of you. The actual death of you, however, might be slightly more prohibitive when it comes to buying all these games. When are you going to find time to play all this stuff?

Continue reading The Steam Summer Sale trap

JoystiqThe Steam Summer Sale trap originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>legend-of-grimrockmacpcreaction-timesteamsteam-summer-saleFri, 20 Jul 2012 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Breaking Down a Broken Game]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/22/breaking-down-a-broken-game/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/22/breaking-down-a-broken-game/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/22/breaking-down-a-broken-game/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
"Why don't you just do your job and review the game? Stop shoving your opinion down our throats!"

That's one bit of criticism, nested between comments both cordial and caustic, that I sometimes see at the bottom of Joystiq's thoughtful, pretentious, accurate and downright incorrect reviews (depending on whom you ask). For some, a bit of punditry only pollutes the product evaluation they signed up for. Less thought and more report, please.

That's not how game reviews work at all - not unless it's their goal to confirm factual observations about the video game, which is indeed functional and playable from the first-person perspective, and features a sequence of steadily increasing challenges that must be overcome with considered manipulation of the controller's buttons. And there are graphics!

But the ease at which the mythical "objective review" is dismissed nearly obscures an unusual facet of writing about games. When critics played Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor this week, they encountered a game that had clear, unavoidable faults beyond the usual suspects in level design, storytelling, play mechanisms, and emotions evoked by the premise. What happens when the game just fails to function properly?

Continue reading Breaking Down a Broken Game

JoystiqBreaking Down a Broken Game originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>capcomkinectmicrosoftreaction-timesteel-battalion-heavy-armorxboxFri, 22 Jun 2012 15:10:00 EST<![CDATA[Wink If You've Seen the Future]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/16/wink-if-youve-seen-the-future/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/16/wink-if-youve-seen-the-future/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/16/wink-if-youve-seen-the-future/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
E3 is always on the verge of devolving into a chaotic, inescapable din of competing mega-screens and marketing megaphones yelling over each other. Everyone is selling their own piece of the future. That's why, whether intentional or not, this year's show felt weirdly and stubbornly on message, as if a tacit agreement between every manufacturer and publisher ensured that nobody would step out of the here-and-now. If a gnawing absence of surprise and excitement pervaded the show, it's because everything we saw and discussed is expected to come out within the next twelve months.

Ubisoft was willing to venture much further into the future, surprising attendees of its own press conference with a snippet of Watch Dogs, a game that seemed too good to be true amongst E3's barrage of solid sequels. Here was a new intellectual property, with a serious and topical premise, and graphics too sophisticated to be running on a console from 2005. It's okay to talk about the next generation, apparently, as long as you don't explicitly call it that.

Continue reading Wink If You've Seen the Future

JoystiqWink If You've Seen the Future originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>e3-2012microsoftpcplaystationps3reaction-timeubisoftubisoft-montrealwatch-dogsxboxSat, 16 Jun 2012 19:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The Essential E3]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/01/the-essential-e3/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/01/the-essential-e3/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/01/the-essential-e3/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
It's easy to separate fresh freelancers from deeply ingrained industry curmudgeons on the E3 show floor. The former group barges into the Los Angeles Convention Center with a spring in their step, a sparkle in their eye and the reverent willingness to strip down and be consumed in wonderment, as the show caresses and dazzles them with gaming's finest wares. Cynicism and numbness haven't had an opportunity to creep in yet.

Meanwhile, the other guys are having a cigarette and talking trash on the other end of the spectrum. They're more likely to describe the Electronic Entertainment Expo as a disorienting nebula of noise that flattens the senses and squeezes the humanity out of you from bottom to top, like it's the last bit of toothpaste in the tube. To them, E3 is an exhausting act of catching bullets in a burning ammunition depot, with breaking news and rapid-fire developments flying in from all directions.

What makes E3 so fascinating to some - and so irritating to others - is that it doesn't have a filter. It's not particularly aimed at just press, consumers or retailers anymore, so it just spills over everyone and blasts out light and sound in 360 degrees. Joystiq sends a massive team of writers to cover the event every year because there's so much of it, and so much of it is in need of filtration and packaging. From the perspective of readers and podcast listeners, the press should function as both translator and bulletproof vest.

Continue reading The Essential E3

JoystiqThe Essential E3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>e3-2012microsoftnintendopcplaystationps3reaction-timewii-uxboxFri, 01 Jun 2012 18:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Next-Gen Starts When We Say It Does]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/25/next-gen-starts-when-we-say-it-does/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/25/next-gen-starts-when-we-say-it-does/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/25/next-gen-starts-when-we-say-it-does/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
If the world does come to a wailing and irreversible halt in 2012, the most terrible loss (besides billions of lives, the infrastructure of civilization, your dog, etc.) will be the glaring glut of video games already scheduled for 2013. Promising brand builders like BioShock Infinite, Tomb Raider and Devil May Cry are all bailing on 2012, and inevitable behemoth Grand Theft Auto V has yet to pick a landing zone.

Most of these games are massive, costly undertakings that can't afford to stumble out with stuttering marketing campaigns, let alone on a stage crowded with other huge products. If we're to predict the emergence of powerful next-generation platforms, care of Sony and Microsoft, the movements of third-party publishers should give us our first clues. No manufacturer is in a position to escape the catch-22 of a new console launch on its own: You need standout games to get the system out there, but it's tough to obtain and support those games properly with an install base that starts at zero.

Continue reading Next-Gen Starts When We Say It Does

JoystiqNext-Gen Starts When We Say It Does originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 25 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>anvil-nextfrostbite-2glacier-2microsoftnext-gennintendoplaystationps3reaction-timewii-uxboxFri, 25 May 2012 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Avengers, Assemble! And Provide Commentary on Games!]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/avengers-assemble-and-provide-commentary-on-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/avengers-assemble-and-provide-commentary-on-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/11/avengers-assemble-and-provide-commentary-on-games/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
The world of popular culture was left awestruck last week after colliding with The Avengers, an extravagant, unavoidable glitter ball of an asteroid. The simultaneous sequel to five popular movies, The Avengers accrues a crew of incredible superheroes, including one that already claimed "incredible" as a capitalized adjective in his name.

You've got the irradiated scientist who grows out of his pants and into a green behemoth, a demigod who wields mythical hammers and perfect strands of L'Oréal hair with equal aplomb, a pouting assassin, a smart-ass billionaire encased in weaponized toasters, a guy with a bow, and Captain America, the patriotic straight arrow who might as well sit in the quiver of that other guy. The best part of the film is seeing how they all get along.

They do eventually, of course, because it's an entertaining arc and because together they have to navigate a spectacular gauntlet of alien invasion, non-depletable cosmic power sources and lots of other things that cost a fortune to render and/or blow up. There's an inescapable wave of critical condescension toward the audience whenever they sign up for unrealistic, "dumb" thrills en masse, but the reality is that certain movies - just like games - can't exist unless they spend their money in the right places. The Avengers, which essentially sneaks in a witty geek comedy when nobody's looking, has dollars whizzing by on the screen every second. Also, every dollar is on fire.

Continue reading Avengers, Assemble! And Provide Commentary on Games!

JoystiqAvengers, Assemble! And Provide Commentary on Games! originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 11 May 2012 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>call-of-dutycall-of-duty-black-ops-2reaction-timethe-avengersFri, 11 May 2012 15:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Is Trials Evolution the Perfect Game?]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/04/is-trials-evolution-the-perfect-game/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/04/is-trials-evolution-the-perfect-game/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/04/is-trials-evolution-the-perfect-game/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
Trials Evolution might just be the perfect video game. The subject matter doesn't seem worthy of the adjective, as it mostly involves a subject colliding with matter face-first after being catapulted from a motorcycle into an unimpressed log. It's just a simple, repeatable exercise in balancing a bike, which you steer through an insane obstacle course for no reason other than to succeed and see some flashy fireworks at the end.

So, perhaps it's not the greatest or most important creation to emerge from an industry packed with intelligent designers and bold artists. It is, however, a perfect encapsulation of what drives any good game. Trials is like a transparent cube - a simple shape to house and display the same gears that turn within more elaborate machines. (It also costs $15, so a comparison to one of those gaudy, see-through Swatches from the '90s might be more apt.)

Continue reading Is Trials Evolution the Perfect Game?

JoystiqIs Trials Evolution the Perfect Game? originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 04 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>microsoftreaction-timeredlynxtrials-evolutionxblaxboxFri, 04 May 2012 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Journey Without Words]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/journey-without-words/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/journey-without-words/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/journey-without-words/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a new weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
I'm not sure I've seen anyone describe Journey as a well written game. It's praised as an earnest, emotionally stirring masterpiece, and a subtle success that nearly denigrates other games just by existing alongside them. But the topic of writing in games is often confined to scripts, spectacle and whatever is said in a cutscene, and Journey doesn't have any of that. If you completed it, you'll probably agree: There are no words.

As I wandered through an orange-hued desert, coming dangerously close to outright frolicking, I noticed a figure striding into distant view. Here I met another nameless nomad, and one that shared my appreciation of tasteful, unfettered fabrics. A friend? Another traveler compelled to reach the mysterious obelisk at the center of the world? "Would u like 2 work 2gether," he said in a text bubble. "I know how 2 get 2 the mountain and beat the game."

Continue reading Journey Without Words

JoystiqJourney Without Words originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>jenova-chenjourneyplaystationps3psnreaction-timethatgamecompanyFri, 27 Apr 2012 15:07:00 EST<![CDATA[Rise of the Fund-it Pundits]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/20/rise-of-the-fund-it-pundits/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/20/rise-of-the-fund-it-pundits/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/20/rise-of-the-fund-it-pundits/#commentsYou're reading Reaction Time, a new weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.
In 1998, Tim Schafer asked the world to buy his darkest, funniest and greatest graphic adventure, Grim Fandango. Players planet-wide gave a big ol' shrug, despite the impassioned clamor of genre buffs and the constant yelling of critics, who could only find so many synonyms for "masterpiece."

In 2012, Tim Schafer asked the world to give him $400,000 for a new point-and-click project, which had yet to be designed, documented or even described. This time, he got over $3.3 million.

This stratospheric level of success on Kickstarter, a venue for crowd-sourced funding that's now being directed at unconventional games, is not the norm. Tim Schafer and his Double Fine studio are in the midst of a perfect storm of publicity. The designer's cherished legacy, and his perceived role as the charming genius who just can't catch a break in a harsh industry, are the components of a great underdog story. And maybe lifelong Grim Fandango guilt is the glue that holds it all together.

Continue reading Rise of the Fund-it Pundits

JoystiqRise of the Fund-it Pundits originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>distrodouble-finedouble-fine-adventureiosiphonekickstartermacmobilepcpinkerton-road-studiosreaction-timetim-schaferFri, 20 Apr 2012 15:10:00 EST