Welcome to the SideQuest, your semi-weekly podcast devoted to gaming, culture, and gaming culture, with the occasional tangent.
Episode 125. It took us a while, but episode 125 is here. We’re joined by Holly Attesi of TheXBoxDomain to have incredibly dysfunctional mayhem. Mike is the XBox Gamer of the Week. Dali needs to wash a baby. Yaniv wants more days off.
Hosts:
Dali Dimovski, Holly Attesi, Yaniv Pereyaslavsky, Mike Wehner Music: Mainfinger , Disco Link
Yes, yes. I know. You’re sick of Apple iPad articles flooding the web the last two days. Well, I am too. I hopped on my favorite gaming websites and blogs and found information that, surprisingly, could have been summed up with one post — nay, one LINE — instead of 67: It has a bigger screen. But no, I had to read a hands-on with the interface. Then, a hands-on with the non-gaming apps. Then the gaming apps (which were not even iPad games). Then an article about the design, one about the specs, one about how it is a let-down, and one about how it’s divided the gaming world.
I realize that it draws immense traffic to websites, which in this economy of ad-driven economics is crucial, but it adds nothing to the conversation about games.
As a gadget geek I love to talk about a product and look at its specifications. I love to debate on why my MacBook is better than any PC laptop I’ve owned, or which distro of Linux is optimal, or even which e-reader has the best UI. But there are already several places I can do that: GDGT, Engadget, and Gizmodo had that covered in excruciating detail. This simply isn’t gaming news. Perhaps if there was some piece of gaming software that had been REALLY effing cool I would sit and read the RSS feed while on the crapper at work. But nope.
Now, I realize Apple invited several gaming outlets to the event. Pissing off Apple by saying “no thanks, we already have a tech blog team that can handle that” may seem like a bad idea but it certainly saves a little time to write about far more interesting things, like Mario cupcakes or Master Chief wallpapers. Really, though, 6 articles about how it may or may not change gaming forever is 7 too much.
The amount of unneeded coverage has been deafening, and I don’t know about you but I need a break from it.
Video game publications, websites, and communities have a tough job at the end of every December: selecting their top game of the year. Will it be Uncharted 2 or Assassin’s Creed 2? Is it an exclusive? Is one console’s version better than another? Is it an original game or a refined sequel? There are plenty of factors that are looked at when determining whether one game is considered the “GOTY”.
I have often wondered how some of my favorite publications have selected their top games. In many cases they rely on a point scale awarded to the individual editors/community members’ selections. For simplicity’s sake this seems like a clean and standard method that has made the rounds: Each voter selects 5 games. The top game gets 5 points, the second gets 4, and so on down the line. When all votes are tallied the highest scoring game generally wins out. (This is in fact how SideQuesting is selecting our GOTY for 2009.)
But then I noticed some variables starting to pop up. For one, the voting method is inherently flawed. In a 5-point scale, there is a greater chance for ties to happen. And, is a game that gets 17 points really better than a game that gets 16 points? Also, point scale methods seem to have a “gray area” where the amount of voters plays a role in making or breaking the system. Too many voters = too many games with low point totals. Not enough voters = one-sided voting towards one or two games. These issues were just the tip of the iceberg.
Let’s get this out of the way right now; I’m not a big Olympics fan. In fact, unless there’s some crazy-fast sprinter or a swimmer who appears to be more fish than man, I’ll likely avoid the five rings wherever I see them.
That said, when the opportunity came around to play Vancouver 2010, I was struck with the unmistakable feeling of nostalgia and my head filled with images of me, controller in hand, tapping feverishly at the A button until I simply couldn’t take it any longer.
You see, I’m a child of the NES, and virtual athletic competition, to me, has always meant straining my hand muscles nearly to the point of collapse, much like the athletes my avatar is attempting to emulate on the screen. Surprisingly, Vancouver 2010 is able to marry my childhood memories with modern video game sensibilities and create a pleasurable experience that most will appreciate, if not love. Continue Reading
Back in the Summer of 2008, I bought an Xbox 360 because I wanted to play Halo 3. During my first year with the console, I never got around to playing the game that many people say “out-Halo’ed” Halo , Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. So while people were busy getting excited for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, I was getting excited for Bungie’s follow-up, Halo 3: ODST. However, after playing through ODST and feeling like my excitement was misplaced, I was curious to see what Activision had to offer with its next installment to the Call of Duty Series. Not only did Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 “out-Halo” ODST, it may have also “out-FPS’ed” any other FPS released in 2009. Continue Reading
To preface this review, I want to come out and say that I really disliked the first Assassin’s Creed. Some folks in the gaming community have called it a polarizing experience, and I found myself amongst the gamers that really disliked it. If you’ve heard any kind of complaint against the original Assassin’s Creed, I probably agree with it.
As an aspiring video game writer, playing through Assassin’s Creed II served as a powerful learning experience. After giving Assassin’s Creed a try, giving up on it, and playing through Assassin’s Creed II a year later, I learned about an important aspect of game design — that is, the function of the sequel and how to make one properly. Continue Reading
I’ve completed Mega Man 2 exactly one time, about 10 years after it was released. It didn’t take that long because I couldn’t get around to playing it; I had plenty of opportunities, and played it several times. Oh no. It took that long because I kept dying at that stupid, hateful dragon. You know the one.
Now, had YouTube been around in 1998 I would have loved to see this series back then: a complete walk through of Mega Man 2 by Nintendo-Daily‘s Classicgamer sent to us by the site.
In the spirit of our love for classic gaming we’ve posted the infamous dragon video below, but be sure to hop on to Nintendo-Daily to watch the entire 15-part series. God bless you, Classicgamer. And God damn you, mecha-dragon.
Oftentimes we come across some pretty incredible things that don’t normally fit into the gaming category. This video by Alex Roman, titled “The Third & The Seventh”, is one of those things.
The movie itself has an incredible cinematic, emotional aspect to it, but what makes it noteworthy are three things:
1. The film was created by one person.
2. It was done in about a year.
3. It is all created in CGI.
Let me repeat that last one: IT WAS ALL CREATED IN CGI. That’s computer graphics, folks. The only thing that is *possibly* not CGI is the human. Everything else, from the millions of books on the shelves, to the leaves and grass, to the cracks and details in the architecture, was created on a computer. Using 3D Studio Max, After Effects, and some incredible talent, Roman created a film that says “We’re officially in the future, kids.”
Alex Roman, you’re officially the most talented Man of the Year — and it’s only January 9th!
Now, pick up your jaws and watch it again. Mind-effing-blowing.
“Avatar isn’t just a great film, it’s a great cultural experience. You need to see this movie, in 3D, and in IMAX.”
I can’t recall any movie being more hyped up over the last decade than James Cameron’s Avatar, except for maybe the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Fitting, then, that this 3-D technological epic fits snugly within the upper echelon of geek films that is remembered and watched for generations. What can someone expect from a “game-changing” film with this much build-up? I walked into the theater wondering how this movie would let me down. I walked out wondering when I would get a chance to see it again. And again. And again.
The year 2009 is over. The great Q1 2010 is upon us. Many may argue that this will be one of the best years ever in terms of quality releases. (Not sold? Check out our big list of 2010.)
We know software will be abundant, but this year especially we will be introduced to several intriguing and potentially game-changing advances in videogame technology. Whether it’s for a console, handheld, or home computer we will be inundated with possibly exciting new ways to interact with our favorite games.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the more notable advances that we know of, but feel free to add more in the comments or to let us know what you are personally excited about.
The SideQuest Ep 125: The Year 2010 Makes Contact [78:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (551)
Back in the Summer of 2008, I bought an Xbox 360 because I wanted to play Halo 3. During my first year with the console, I never got around to playing the game that many people say “out-Halo’ed” Halo , Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. So while people were busy getting excited for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, I was getting excited for Bungie’s follow-up, Halo 3: ODST. However, after playing through ODST and feeling like my excitement was misplaced, I was curious to see what Activision had to offer with its next installment to the Call of Duty Series. Not only did Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 “out-Halo” ODST, it may have also “out-FPS’ed” any other FPS released in 2009. 
