mikemariano

Steve Gaynor, if you're reading this thread, I hope you get some satisfaction from the fact that everyone is giving Hothead the same answer they gave you. It's nothing personal. Is there anyone on this site that does have this game for the Xbox? How is the dialogue compared to the first game? Deathspank's conversations were broad and silly, but still a lot of fun. I don't know if that will continue.

GOTY 2012 Irishjohn: Ken Levine is all about story, so those things bothering you and Thorn are outside of his concerns. If you listen to Levine's appearance on the Three Moves Ahead podcast, you can actually hear his eyes glaze over as he's asked about how his origin stories for Freedom Force influenced the gameplay. That's fair; the gameplay's not his job. But it really does hurt Bioshock if his story can't be supported by what you play. It also makes the game so much less than it could be. You spend most of your time in Gears of War ducking behind things. Splinter Cell has many silly take-down maneuvers---and ways to avoid those takedowns entirely. And you do all sorts of goofy ice climbing and bomb placement in Modern Warfare. Bioshock really is the only modern game where you're expected to shoot (or zap) everything all the time.* *Or hack, or take a picture, or shop, I guess. But to do any of those things the rest of the game stops cold.** **I haven't played it, but isn't Uncharted a game with a ludicrous amount of shooting, too? And didn't that get dinged for unrealistic, excessive violence that distracted from the game's aesthetic?

This is Xerxes. Can you not feel the glory of the flesh? Stephen Russell is insanely talented. We can only hope that he also voices one of the drunken bar patrons in the Benny Sinclair voice.

Right. Everything is presented as its own "encounter", which is fine. And if that's how they want to make their game, go for it; that's what Half-Life does. But I wonder how well this will play if I don't play it exactly like they do. VALVE DEVELOPERS: "We want you to use the gravity gun to throw an explosive barrel at that zombie." ME: "Oh no, a zombie! I should throw a barrel at it! Oops, I grabbed a paint can; maybe that'll slow him down. I missed the barrel again and grabbed a plank of wood! Eh, I'll just use my handgun and run back and forth forever until he dies." And that can still lead to a tense, fun situation. When you are surrounded by that mob of drunks and Elizabeth tells you to use one of your powers so she can electrocute them, what if you ignore her? What if you go up to all of them and shotgun them one by one? What if you run away? These might be dumb ways to play the game, but are they possible? Are they fun?

Absolutely. Nothing made me despair more than seeing the enraged bar patrons run at you in a straight line as you lazily slaughter them with your shotgun. Incidentally, these men have no firearms; why they don't run away after you start murdering them I have no idea. If we're supposed to treat the game's characters like something human, they should act like it. I'm going to be rash and give this the ol' FUCK THIS GAME. Like the original Bioshock, this shows off a high concept and painfully dumb gameplay. Reskinning a copy of Serious Sam would give you a deeper, more nuanced game than Bioshock Infinite.

Poor Steve; we're his biggest fans and we filled up two pages talking about why we didn't buy his DLC. Then he gets interviewed about his hard work and waits for the Gamasutra comments to roll in... ...and the first one is yours, El Muerte, giving Steve the comment he dreads the most. What I'm trying to say is that we might all be terrible people. We might not know it, but there's just too much evidence. Steve and the rest of the crew give so much of themselves, and we treat them like dirt. We don't deserve them!

I spent years playing the original King's Bounty and Heroes of Might & Magic II. I never once managed to complete a campaign and dig up...whatever treasure I was supposed to dig up. But every once in a while I beat all the other dudes. I count that as a win.

"Mass Effect isn't all about the conversation and story -- it's about kicking ass, too." -- IGN.com

Really? I'm older than most of y'all, and I figured it was only people my age who would be interested in this game. We're the Beavis and Butt-head generation, after all. As long as Duke Nukem Forever keeps the amount of goofy action high and remembers that we could interact with just about anything in each level, I think they'll do all right. That quote above about limiting the weapon selection suggests otherwise, though. Oh well! The good thing about Duke being so lightweight is that you don't have to be disappointed if they screw it up.

What's the over/under on Duke making a joke about the wait for Episode Three at some point during DNF? Will we see Gordon's mangled body in some secret passage and hear Duke say, "that's one doomed theoretical physicist"?

I played through the free part of Case Zero last night. It brought back everything I enjoyed about Dead Rising and everything I found frustrating. Please don't stop the game every two minutes for a cutscene! This is the style of zombie I like (sorry, L4D!), and Dead Rising does a great job of encouraging you to keep your distance from the hordes or risk being overwhelmed. I almost never remember my dreams, but last night I had a zombie outbreak dream in which I combined implements of destruction on a workbench. I don't think I've had a game-related dream since the first Final Fantasy. In that, I crashed an airship into a swamp. I'm on the fence about whether or not I want to buy Case Zero and Dead Rising 2. I got sick of , so I guess I didn't "really" beat the first game. Dead Rising 2 looks great so far. It's a game I will absolutely love in part. I wonder if that's enough.

I can't believe I'm going to buy more stupid Mass Effect 2 DLC. Lair of the Shadow Broker Judging by that trailer, our Countdown To Asari Tears ends on September 7th. I'm replaying Mass Effect 2 right now on Insanity difficulty as douchebag male Shepard. Perhaps instead of sleazing on every woman in sight, I'll keep him faithful to Liara. So out of character!

I only play Jake's games. Sorry!

Remember that part of the movie where Marty has sex with a hooker, then runs her over and takes his money back? And the hooker turns out to be his mom? And the way Doc calls Marty all the time wanting to go bowling? If Telltale leaves those parts out I'll be disappointed.

Metroid: Other M "A big fat 'yes!' with a nagging 'but...' " -- IGN.com "Even holographic beasts can give you an ouchie." -- IGN.com

OMG

Noooo! Whatever you do, don't watch a Bioware promotional video! Their alchemy turns anticipation into dread!

The demo on Xbox Live was hilarious. I got shot a lot, then fell to the ground. You're allowed to scoot around and return fire while on the ground, so instead of getting up, I spent most of my time scooting and shooting. FUN FACT: Not one woman in the demo wears a top! Video Games!

2K Marin now refers to a different developer on the east coast...of Atlantis. They're working on a "sidequel" reboot: XCOM: Terrors In The Deep. It will be a cover-based co-op FPS set in 1956. You will prevent aliens from eating Jacques Cousteau.

That's why you should spend $190 on an oversized DSi XL that will be outdated in less than a year! Just so you can say you beat Zelda! And lie to yourself like I do and pretend it was fun!

August 12th: That's when 2K Boston announces Bioshock 5: Bioshock on the Moon with lead designer Chris Remo. That's a long development time for Bioshock 5, though. I wonder who's working on Bioshocks 3 and 4?

Oh wow, I really liked Spirit Tracks, but I was very careful and beat the end boss my first and only time through the game. I didn't even consider what would have happened if I died. The very last part of the battle requires you to rub the stylus back and forth to overpower the boss. I got a few stares on the train because of that. NOTE: I completed Spirit Tracks on the DSi XL---it's much better for stylus-only games.

Oh, one more thing about the Kasumi mission—I honestly can't imagine playing it as male Shepard. The mission starts out at a high-class party. Female Shepard looks appropriate in a cocktail dress, but male Shepard must look like a meathead with a bow tie. Especially the default Shepard—there's nothing about him that says suave socialite. Mass Effect is now primarily a dating sim soap opera in space. Male Shepard needs some serious fashion tips.

I beat Limbo tonight. It's gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. But who cares about video game artistry? I only care about achievement whoring! And now it's easy thanks to awesome tips from Jessica Chobot and your pals at IGN! Pad that gamerscore, dudes!

brkl is right; the Kasumi mission wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything special. The view from the bad guy's balcony was nice. Mass Effect 2 should have been that pretty all throughout the game. Fun fact: The bad guy has the head of the Statue of Liberty in his secret vault of secrets. I guess he took it from that storeroom on Liberty Island following the events of Deus Ex 2. And somehow it gets reattached and buried in time for Planet of the Apes.