twmac

I like most of the stuff that Kieron Gillen wrote and have made some attempts to go in the same direction when it seemed valid. So I guess I like New Games Journalism. As to how that relates to the article, even if the guy does seem to be looking down on NGJ, I think he just wants a disclaimer at a beginning of an article so that he knows he won't be interested in it. I do take umbrage that writing for entertainment's sake doesn't change the world. If even one think you write makes someone laugh or think; I would be happy with that.

No problem. I think is a good article regardless of whether you write or not. The points he made were completely valid and once I shook off the fact that he seemed to be telling me to stop writing about video games I enjoyed it a lot. He isn't telling me to stop writing about video games, he is telling me to clearly illustrate my place in the hierachy of video game writing. Which is fair enough.

Agreed. I read the article before it was published and thought that the names were a good mix between authentic and ridiculous, that maybe Dylan had made them up. Mine and the editor's fault for not checking with him first. As soon as you pointed it out I emailed the editor of the site and the author and asked them to change it due to the fact that he most probably hadn't got authorisation from the players to use their gamertags and that could be deemed an invasion of privacy. It was a schoolboy error on all our parts so thanks for catching it. Oh and also: http://www.electrondance.com/?p=2148 The video at the end is adorable.

Looks remarkably like Assault Heroes. What are they doing to differentiate it from that game? I liked AH and AH2 but I don't think I need another game like that.

Oh shit, I didn't realise he was using real gamertags, it looks like it misght actually be the real guy! I will have to nause them up about that. I deliberately make sure all screenshots I take of multiplayer games only show my gamertag, if any and all references I use in articles of gamertags have them shortened so they aren't real.

I was just teasing, I didn't like the game but I know quite a few people who think that the game is ace.

I haven't played the game at all but a co-worker on AR just put up an article that is about attempting to play the game on Xbox LIVE with randoms, I thought it was ironic fun: http://www.arcadianrhythms.com/2011/05/for-science-an-experiment-in-random-portal-2-co-op/

Were you expecting to get repeatedly punched in the gut? Did not like this game one bit. I just finished Mindjack. Bizarre, bizarre game, utterly reprehensible in some ways and absolutely brilliant in others. The story and voice acting is deliciously terrible (but not pulled off with the flair of Deadly Premonition), the action itself is solid if unremarkable until you start using all the mindjacking powers and allowing people to randomly enter your game and ruin it for you. I played with randoms for about 6 hours on Monday and it was equal parts exhilarating and infuriating. Can't say I would recommend it, but people need to play it just to experience it, preferably with a headset and a few beers inside them.

I know this is an old thread I be bumping, but a colleague at Arcadian Rhythms just finished writing up about it (and I threw in my second opinion based on the game we had): http://www.arcadianrhythms.com/2011/05/blight-of-the-immortals-review/

Deadly Premonition was the start of it, I really enjoyed the game and am glad I read the review as it convinced me to try it out. The thing is, I noticed his trend of doing this for anything out of the ordinary (his review of Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom was hyperbolic).

Well, despite my negative reaction I went and finished Mass Effect 2 in a marathon over two weekends. I have to say that ending was actually really affecting. I was surprised by how much I did care in the end. The previous 20 hours had mostly been filler with occasional moments of interest in some of the characters back story (Thane and Mordin were interesting). So yeah, not really all that excited about Mass Effect 3 but ME2 redeemed itself, sort of, in the last 2-3 hours.

Just finished Mass Effect 2 and X-Men Origins: Worlverine this weekend. Will post my thoughts in the ME2 thread. As for Wolverine, it was a lot more cinematic than I had been led to believe by the screenshots. Overall though, the game is a pretty repetitive hack and slash, never unejoyable but I think I would have been pretty upset to pay full price.

A lot of what you said makes sense, standardised reviews are pretty useless. They give you no real understanding of the game itself. I don't really care about whether the Graphics are an 8 etc. The two sites pointed out (Eurogamer and Giant Bomb) are the best for reviews in that you can generally get a good feel for whether you are going to like the game or not. Destructoid also has its moments but Jim Sterling is taking his online persona too far now and it is resulting in his reviews being a bit predictable (obscure Japanese game = amazing). Sorry if this has almost felt like a cry for help, but really it was meant as a feeler, in that I am worried that the guys on the site (myself included) are writing for an audience that doesn't exist/has already walked away from it. Also, does idle thumbs still have its written content available. I remember the Crimson Skies and Chronicles of Riddick review both being ace.

I am definitely in the minority about MK9 and it saddens me. As for the fighting game it plays, well it is just a case of the fact that the low level game is completely unispiring, it doesn't feel like there is much to play around with and instead it suffers from what Tekken always has, that spamming buttons works fine and then there is a massive divide in the mid level game (I cannot comment on the high level stuff alluded to) where you just learn the scripted, prescribed combos and then you are done. I am not great at fighting games (my days of Streetfighter 2 obsession are way behind me), but it was easy to see the limitations of the low level game when it becomes so transparent in a matter or minutes. As for the spectator aspect, that has always been Mortal Kombat's 'strength'. It has very pleasing finishers but once you have seen them about 5 times it starts getting really old. MK9 may be the strongest in the series (it is certainly better than MK2), but it is not exactly indicative of a strong franchise. Whatever, I am just bitching about people enjoying a game. If you do, fair enough, I will leave this thread for people celebrate Boon et al's return to form.

Oh dear. I have to disagree with all of you on this thread. The story is hokum nonsense, the characters are nailed perfectly right, as in they look like their original designs. These were universally cringe worthy back in 1994 and now they are embarrassingly anachronistic. The game fighting engine is as bad as it always with the combat being jerky and unresponsive, sure there are combos but these are the kind dial-a-combo shit that Mortal Kombat has always been notorious for. I think that saying it takes it back to the 'hey day' of UMK3 is just right, if you liked it fair enough, but really it was terrible back then and is still terrible now. For all the stance that people take about Bayonetta, and Duke Nukem Forever. Mortal Kombat is probably the most exploitative of its female characters. I don't even want to link it but there is a video on Eurogamer that was used to promote the women of MK and it made me physically ill. MK fever has exploded all over North America and there are constant updates on Facebook and it makes me sad that this dross is being peddled. It is nice that there is a 20 hour campaign (as horrible as it is) for the fans but really it needs someone who can design a fighting game (or if Shaolin Monks and the other spin offs attest to I think the series might need some one who can design a game). Not that I want them to do that because then I might have to take MK seriously.

Wow, as a writer of reviews, that is utterly depressing. The kind of people I would want to read my shit don't really ever bother. I guess, by contrast, I play a lot of games. I buy in the region of 60 games a year and I am never sure what I am going to like and what I would be in the mood for, so a well written review can inspire me to pick it up (the 6/10 review for mindjack made me buy it today). Sure, I don't just hop onto IGN and see what gets the top score but well received game can swing me to think about trying it out (Portal 2)

Have played Strania's demo, will definitely buy it the next time my X360 is near an internet connection. I also can't wait for the Bangai-O game, again I will be lugging my X360 to somewhere that has wireless so I can get it.

Well, I still read reviews. I found them worthwhile if they are able to convey an idea, or represent a feeling that the game may have impressed upon the reviewer. There are several games I have bought despite bad reviews simply because the reviews described things that seemed appealing. Without reviews it makes it hard for me to figure out what is out there and what a game is like. Previews and Hands On articles are far worse than reviews as they are always buoyed towards the positive and are often so saccharine that they rot my teeth.

If arcadian Rhythms becomes more popular then we are hoping to do more stuff like that. For example two of us are playing Fortresscraft Vol1 (an XBLIG Minecraft homage) and thinking about writing an interview-based review of it. Whereby, I ask the other guy a bunch of questions, based on the fact that I have never played minecraft, and he asks me a bunch of questions based on the fact that he has. Hopefully it will lead to the readers geting an idea of whether it is any good, either for the newbies or for people that have already plowed hours into MC. I am glad that other people feel the same way we do, as that is what we are hoping to nail, most of the time, at AR.

So, basically, that website has a lot of the same philosophies that the original written content of Idle Thumbs had? I completely agree with the sentiment, it was one of the things that we argued over in the Arcadian Rhythms group email. Whether to score or not, and fortunately the anti-scores arguers won. Incidentally, when we can we do have people write second opinions (in fact Bulletstorm is about to get a second review as I completely disagreed with the original one). So, yeah, you are preaching to the converted. I would say, that in some cases it is not advantageous to have some one who doesn't like a type of game review them. After some discussion, we agreed that my original review of Homefront should be relegated to a second opinion - my own piece was too acerbic and clearly biased in my hatred of linear shooters - and have one of the other guys write up a more balanced one. My review went on badgercommander.net and I think that was a better way of handling it. It is why I enjoy the gamers with jobs and Drunken gamers podcasts (when they talk about games) as it is usually just people talking about how a game made them feel regardless of the mechanics. And the K&L thing... You mean Gamespot right?

Whaat? That concept art looks awesome!

Sorry, that came out as too much of a personal dig. I wasn't targetting you in particular but as I was playing the Majin I was simply sadden that this game really wasn't aimed at anyone, with no way to create buzz for itself it was doomed to be pushed aside for other games that had a target audience and had their sights clearly targetted on them. The first that sprung to mind were games like Torchlight and Trine, these were never expected to do big numbers but through the correct marketing (doing things like the schaeffer brothers showing up on podcasts such as idle thumbs), they fostered a good roots movement. Majin just showed up with nothing to generate good will towards it. Tanu's description of the game is spot on, with the character interactions and level design reminding me of Ico mixed with Zelda.

I played the demo and wrote about it: http://badgercommander.net/badger-commanders-preview-majin-and-the-forsa I bought the game on the day of release, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that my initial fears were unfounded. Game Republic also developed Knights Contract, that I mentioned in the 'completed games' thread. It is also good but woefully misunderstood. I need to get back to Majin and finish it at some point soon. Oh and if you are interested in reading about Knights Contract, I am posting on Arcadian Rhythms in the next couple of weeks. It is funny the way Gwardinen talks about Majin, it is exactly what I was worried about. Doesn't have the right cred to get it thumbs up from the more alternative scene and doesn't have JK Simmons and advertising push to get it out there. Knights Contract has even less appeal, despite its assets.

I would love a multiplayer mode of Mass Effect where they strip out the combat and make it into a second Life style dating scene full of awkward shot romance scenes. It would be Bioware playing to its strengths.

Yeah, sorry Forbin but have to agree that this would take priority. I mean, if some one drops and breaks a glass bottle in a shop you don't carry on serving customers, due to the health and safety requirements you have to deal with the problem first before you can go back to making a profit.