When I was young, tabletop miniature games were king in my family. Today many people overlook the genre in favor of video games due to factors like accessibility, cost, and connectivity.
Privateer Press, creators of many classic and popular tabletop miniature games like the hit Monsterpocalypse, are looking to keep the game genre from fading away. With the Voltron expansion coming out in July, I had the opportunity to speak with Matt Wilson, Creative Director, on his thoughts about the direction that tabletop miniature gaming is headed, as well as their plans for their popular franchise.
Retro-influenced gaming is in style again, with re-releases, re-makes, and retro sequels of classic games being pumped out on an almost daily basis. But I remember when retro was still new. The 8-bit games, the midi audio, and the tile-based design was considered the norm. Gamers didn’t worry about technological setbacks or missed chances, they just played games and loved them.
I remember several aspects of gaming that seem to have disappeared with modern game design; aspects that were trivial back then, but drew me into a game and kept me coming back. So I put together this list of my gaming memories that, while I don’t necessarily always miss, I do look back on fondly now.
I’m sure you may have as many memories as I do, so feel free to add them in to the comments.
It was a story about love, life, and death. It was about happiness, good and evil. It was moving, it was frustrating, and it often left us feeling disenchanted.
But it was also beautiful. And, its finale was perhaps a perfect ending to a show that enraptured us for six years.
Lost is done with, but its residue will gladly remain.
Not many games can claim to be addictive from the start, but then again I haven’t played an addictive ninja game for a long time. After personally putting in countless gaming hours on my wife’s iPad playing NinjaTown: Trees of Doom morning and night, I thought it was time to ask some random questions about this game with Katy M. Smith, Producer for developer Venan Entertainment.
Youtube is 5 years old. To honor the little site, we’ve located a few of our favorite gaming videos of all time and posted them here for your viewing pleasure. A lot of eventual inter-memes are included, but what else would you expect from a bunch of people who sit in front of monitors all day. From Lost Planet, to Battlefield, to WiiFit, the videos run the gambit. If we’ve missed any, feel free to let us know and we’ll add them in.
There isn’t much more to say, except “click on, Leeroy Jenkins, click on.”
The image you see above is of an XBox 360 game controller. It’s not a bull-alien or a skull or a cyborg. In fact it’s purely digital. All of us see something different when looking at the gamepad from this angle.
Art isn’t always “planned out” to the finest detail. Sometimes, with just an idea and Apple’s Photobooth for a MacBook, happy accidents can lead to something interesting and beautiful. Sometimes the method of creation is the driving force, and the output is discovery. Using simple camera technology as my method I’ve been able to create unique images out of objects I interface with on a daily basis.
I’ve got to hand it to the folks at Ford. Whether you’re a car person or not, the social media work they’ve been doing with their Fiesta campaigns has been pretty rock solid.
The latest involves a bright green 2011 Fiesta, a 42″ flat screen, a power outlet, and… a Wii? The video, “The Fiesta Wii Workout Routine”, is aimed at showcasing the versatility of the diminutive car. In it the owner takes the Wii-imbued vehicle to various sporting locations, powers up the Wii, and plays the associated WiiSports or WiiSports Resort game.
While Ford may not ACTUALLY want us to do what the owner does in the video, it brings back memories of the “Great Blackout of 2003″ in which I hooked up my PS2 to my sexy Pontiac Vibe to play the latest iteration of Madden with my brother while our entire state was running on candle light. Note to self: Don’t sit directly behind the tail pipe, less you want to inhale enough carbon monoxide to kill a herd of cows.
Have you ever hooked up your gaming consoles (or other media devices) to your car? Do videos like this make you think any differently about non-gaming purchases?
Rather, Sony provided delicious sandwiches at the end of their E3 press conference last year, of which I promptly devoured three or so. This year, when writing about the conferences, will I need to disclose that Sony provided the shuttle from the Nintendo press conference to theirs, as well as what food I chose to eat and beverages I drank at their event?
According to the FTC’s recent law updates, I might be required to. Continue Reading
There are always people looking for the next big thing in gaming, trying new genres or game play mechanics along the way. Sometimes these can even become groundbreaking hits. However, developers should still be allowed to create based on comfortable, established gaming conventions if a project calls for it. Recently, we were able to speak with Anthony De Sa Ferreira, Director at Golgoth Studio about that topic, as well as shedding some light on the background of their upcoming Toki re-imagining.
In a bit of a head-scratcher, Nintendo let loose this morning a sole press release that has turned the gaming world upside down… if you didn’t already see it coming, that is. This morning’s press release, based out of Nintendo’s Kyoto home in Japan, reads like a vague announcement of an announcement… but with a few intriguing tidbits.
Here are the bullets from the release:
Temporarily named the 3DS
Will allow games to be enjoyed “with 3D effects without the need for any special glasses”
Officially succeeds the DS as the true, next Nintendo portable game machine
Backwards compatible for all DS and DSi games
Releases during fiscal 2011, which ends March 2011
More details will be revealed during E3
Nintendo heads have noted in several interviews that the only time to create a new gaming system is when its game designers’ ideas were no longer possible with current hardware. In appears as though this has taken place.
