Ain’t Nothing to Absolve Here
This week (as in, pursuant to the norm of the internet’s attention span) there’s been no shortage of bar-fight journalism surrounding the latest trailer for Hitman: Absolution. If you haven’t seen it, you’ll be happy to learn that you haven’t missed out on one of the more grossly puerile displays of sexually exploitative game marketing. Read the rest of this entry
Don’t Scoff at Dead Space Co-op Just Yet
I don’t play much multiplayer. I had my brief flirtation with Call of Duty, as I imagine a lot of us did, and I still jump into Battlefield from time to time, but I don’t venture much farther than that. When it comes to co-op, I’m just as shiftless.
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![Why “Retake Mass Effect” Makes Me Furious [Updated]](http://escortmissiondotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/me3london.jpg?w=90&h=70&crop=1 "Why “Retake Mass Effect” Makes Me Furious [Updated]")
Why “Retake Mass Effect” Makes Me Furious [Updated]
UPDATE: Dr. Ray Muzyka announced this morning on the Bioware forums that the Mass Effect team has started pursuing an update to its ending. I thought it was appropriate to respond at this early stage, mainly because I’m not sure I’ll have the energy to do so when the dust settles, but here’s my basic take: this is ultimately Bioware’s call, and I’m not mad at them for it. This doesn’t change anything I wrote originally, but my feelings were born from the venom that was spat in their faces by “fans” more so than a desire to see Casey Hudson and company flip the bird on everyone who was disappointed (which I also wouldn’t have minded, but here we are). It’s still their call.
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REPORT: Next Xbox to Use Punch Cards
Worlds were rocked this morning when abstract “sources” uncovered the news that the next Xbox will not include an optical drive, but instead employ digital downloads and a solid-state drive to play games. If true, this obviously implies much for both the physical distribution and used game markets, but the story behind the actual firmament of the next Xbox’s data platform is much more tried-and-true.
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#EnglishMajorDrinks
Every so often, I fall hard for the wrong kind of trending hashtag on Twitter, and it sends my Bachelor’s Degree into irreverent overdrive. Yesterday’s catalyst of riffage and stupidity came in the form of #EnglishMajorDrinks, which tasked those of us with weaknesses for multiple droughts (lolcwutididthur?) and terrible puns to waste as much time as possible in the name of drunk humor and book titles.
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A Response to Jameson Durall, and a Note on the Smoke War Between Developers and Players
Trying to combat the used games business has become something of a McCarthy crusade for publishers and developers in the last two years. Enacting measures like pervasive DRM, Online Passes, account restrictions, and wholesale vilification of anyone who buys pre-owned have become standard practice in the industry. It’s sparked a large and increasingly acrimonious debate between consumers and game-makers, such that one side considers the other to be either entitled pirates, or flagging businessmen who whine about how much money they do or don’t have. It’s come to the point where one can expect a new business announcement or passionate blog post on the subject every few days or so. The most recent of these comes from Jameson Durall, a design director at Volition, hot in the wake of the rumor that the next XBOX may prohibit the playing of pre-owned titles outright. I’ll ask you to consider Durall’s thoughts before continuing.
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Stand and Deliver, Video Game Voters Network, Or Suffer Our Mutiny
Friends, by this point we are each availed of the potential damage that might be wrought by SOPA. As game enthusiasts, we understand how important net neutrality is to our interests, both philosophically and industrially; yet we have seen in the last couple of months an adamant refusal on behalf of our most trusted and politically minded organizations to stand with us against this short-sighted miscarriage of legislation.
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