Backhand of Justice

Dante’s Inferno is probably an OK game. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s trendy to criticize EA’s grand vision of The Divine Comedy as an exploitative debacle. If you focus on just the story, that’s probably fair. What I don’t understand is why everybody is so critical of its gameplay without even having played it.

The term ‘God of War ripoff’ has been thrown around liberally of late with the release of Darksiders, and if any game deserves it, it’s Dante’s Inferno. That being said, why does that make it a bad game? Why does everybody say ‘Just wait for God of War III, that game is going to be awesome!’ Does a game get a free pass on repetitiveness just because it’s part of the franchise which originated its style of gameplay? read more

It’s finally happened: my computer has fallen behind the curve. What was once a proud and powerful machine has been beaten into submission by new games. Dragon Age bloodied its lip; Mass Effect 2 delivered the deathblow.  read more

 Here it is folks, the epic conclusion to Part 1 that you’ve been waiting for since yesterday. Many questions will be answered such as ‘can anything unseat Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2010?’ (No) and ‘What is the difference between baking powder and baking soda?’ (Nothing. Big Soda has tricked you). read more

As I look back on anno domini 2009, I must admit the God of Gaming (Steven, I believe) is a fickle god. He gives us years of lean gaming crops and then all at once inundates us with a deluge of stunning titles. 2009 was truly the greatest year for videogames since the golden age in the late 1990’s. read more

At some point gamers decided that anything developers accomplish between when they announce a game and when it ships is their property. ‘Oh, you built a break-front in your spare time, Bungie employee? Sorry, that’s ours now. What? Halo 3 hasn’t shipped yet!’

The community is constantly outraged by DLC that they believe is ‘on the disc’ at the time of release. They are even upset about DLC whose development begins before the game with which it’s associated is released.

My question is: why? Developers have no obligation to give you all their work for $60. They create a product at a certain price point and you either buy it or you don’t. read more

Both the enthusiast gaming press and the mainstream media have rendered their verdict on Modern Warfare 2’s ‘No Russian’ mission; they are outraged. For those unaware, the mission pits you in the shoes of an undercover agent trying to infiltrate a terrorist cell by any means necessary. When the terrorists enter an airport to murder many innocent civilians, you have to at least accompany them, and have the option of participating in the slaughter.

The disapproval culminated with the BBC bringing together religious leaders to criticize the game, claiming it was irresponsible and glorifies terrorism, and would have a lasting negative effect on today’s youth.

I’m not going to discuss whether or not the mission in the game makes sense or dictate what others should believe. I want to offer my take on a few of the arguments being made by both critics and defenders of the content which I think verge on overreaction on all fronts. read more

With all the outrage over the ‘No Russian’ mission in Modern Warfare 2, such as this embarrassing piece on Fox News, I wanted to briefly discuss the gaming community’s obsession with mainstream controversy. Why do we feel the need to defend ourselves from these criticisms?

News flash: gamers are no longer a minority. The videogame industry is one of the largest entertainment earners in the world. Videogames are no longer for children and teens. Most people play in one form or another. With the exception of Germany and Australia, very little of the ‘Western World’ has any history of media censorship.

What is everybody worried about? Just ignore it, videogames aren’t going anywhere. read more

 If we ask for a game in which Broccoli Man and his sidekick Bariatric Bob beat the hell out of overweight kids to defeat Dr. Obesity, and Square Enix makes it, then we’d better buy it or at least hold off on the complaints. If we’re clamoring for something new and somebody finally tries a revolutionary mechanic, we should support them even if it’s part of a terrible game. If we don’t practice positive reinforcement for developers, the industry will stagnate.

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I want to argue that games should concern themselves with fun gameplay and if it comes at the expense of ‘realism,’ so be it.

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