video games

Chris Knight's avatar

Whatever the heck that thing is you see on the right (‘cuz I don’t play World of Warcraft) that’s the on-screen persona of one Alfred Hightower, an American citizen who’s been wanted since 2007 for drug dealing. But when he heard the fuzz was onto him Hightower jumped across the border and set up shop in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Hightower didn’t leave World of Warcraft however. And that’s where a Howard County, Indiana deputy sheriff was able to find him and with assistance from the game’s producer Blizzard, wound up tracking him down and having Hightower extradited back to the United States.

Click here for the tale of Alfred Hightower and how one can’t escape justice inside an MMO....

Read more

Chris Knight's avatar

Clive Thompson at Wired has written an exhaustively-researched article that should give every software developer and game publisher pause: the twelve-year development cycle that plagued Duke Nukem Forever before the plug was finally pulled on the project this past spring. The tale Thompson relates is one rife with technical obsession, corporate money and motion-captured strippers (for realz, folks). If you want the lowdown on the biggest gaming fiasco since Ion Storm and perhaps of all time, here it is!...

Read more

Chris Knight's avatar

That’s what Scott Kelly is wondering on his blog. What precipitates the question is the “big reveal” that happened of the next Star Wars game during this past weekend’s Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009 show: a sequel to last year’s Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

As Scott puts it…

If we needed any confirmation that LucasArts was undoubtedly out of touch with their fanbase, the announcement of the newest LucasArts game, creatively titled “The Force Unleashed II”, has unfortunately given us the signal.

I could talk about how making a sequel to “The Force Unleashed” doesn’t make sense, in a narrative sense, since (SPOILER AHEAD) Galen Marek dies at the end. I could discuss how this violates the whole “no body/no death” trope. I could bring up the fact that most fans complimented the game not on the gameplay, but on the actual story told.

But I

...
Read more

Chris Knight's avatar

While we’re waiting for word on Gears of War 3 (which is being whispered will be released sometime late next year), the story of Marcus Fenix and the rest of Delta Squad will continue in the meantime with Karen Traviss’ upcoming novel Gears of War: Anvil Gate, scheduled for publication on March 30, 2010.

Here’s the book’s description on Amazon’s UK site…

With the Locust Horde apparently destroyed, Jacinto’s survivors have begun to rebuild human society on their island stronghold. Raiding pirate gangs take a toll – but it’s nothing that Marcus Fenix and the Gears can’t handle. Then the terrifying life-forms they thought they’d left behind – the Lambent, creatures even the Locust feared – begin to advance across the planet. Gears and gangs must fight side by side to stop their deadliest enemy yet, falling back on the savage tactics of another bloody siege: Anvil Gate.

...
Read more

Chris Knight's avatar

Don’t even think of bugging me about anything come February 9th ‘cuz I’ve already cleared my calendar for that date and Lord willing I’ll be spending all of it immersed in BioShock 2. And at last 2K Games has revealed the cover art for the hotly anticipated sequel to the 2007 original first-person shooter that blew minds and won awards all over the place.

I’m really digging the BioShock 2 logo: more decrepit than the one for the first game and now encrusted with barnacles and other sedentary sea life. And look: the Big Daddy is so ticked-off that he’s smashed a crack in the game’s cover! But what’s seriously wigging me out is that… thing… to the left of the Little Sister’s head. Is that a group of fish or someone’s face?

Just two and a half more months before we get to return to Rapture!...

Read more

Chris Knight's avatar

For $20 you can now get this latest entry from the “Things We Don’t Really Need But Are Lusting For Terribly” file: the BioShock Big Daddy Ultra Deluxe Action Figure! Those big lumbering brutes that once guarded the Little Sisters in Rapture can now be guarding your desktop. Figure comes with full articulation, removable oxygen tank and deadly drill arm. Doesn’t look like the helmet is removable though (which might be a good thing).

Click here for more product and ordering info, would you kindly?...

Read more

Chris Knight's avatar

Gamasutra’s Kris Graft has written an interesting piece about the changing face of the multi-billion dollar video game console industry… and why it’s no longer about building “the next big thing” and rushing it into production. Blame Nintendo’s Wii for the revolution: motion control has become the biggest innovation for video gaming, and now Microsoft and Sony are working on entering the foray with Project Natal and Sony’s planned motion-based controller. But rather than waiting for the next generation of consoles, these features are being implemented into the already-existing Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. And that’s a good thing for everyone concerned…

…for Sony and Microsoft, motion controllers are their next-gen consoles. And it’s a damn sight easier than launching Xbox 720 or PS4. They can debut these peripherals without needing to engineer completely new boxes for consumers, potentially bundle them over time, and they have a much better chance

...
Read more