Where are all the studies that show video games open up your imagination, help you to independently solve complex problems, bring families together? I guess those studies don't make headlines.
There's just no way for a study like this to prove the hypothesis. You would have to remove all exposure to violence that one sees on a daily basis including news, newspapers, movies, TV, music.
I would think you wouldn't want to trash your game so soon after release. An interview like this should probably take place a good year after (if anyone is still interested at that time). Anyone reading what the designer had to say and might have been thinking of picking it up, sure wouldn't be now.
Honesty is one thing, but why sabotage sales?
I think there are 2 sides to the coin. I rent games for my kids because they are young and I have no idea if it will be too hard for them or if they are just not interested. The ones they stick to, I buy at the reduced cost. If I was to buy them, I would have alot of games collecting dust or not buy them at all. For a rental, I can return it the next day if it doesn't pan out.
Similar for myself, I typically rent games to try out. If I like them or I realize I will spend m...
I think you make a good point GB. If the humor can be integrated into the game without distracting you, then it is well done. Take R&C for instance, the first time I stepped on those frog creatures after shooting them out of their suit, I got a great chuckle. It's a nice comic touch that wasn't necessary but added value to the game and was a pretty easy design element.
The extra little comments from Drake are in the same vein, they don't distract you but are great touche...
This was a much better interview than I expected from this article title. His comments were thoughtful and his explanation of why a video game tends to lose the comic edge is spot on. This is true of any game trying to illicit a large range of responses/emotions from the gamer. It's just much harder in an active medium such as games (as opposed to passive like a movie) to get the expected reaction.
What do you think about in a cut scene? You just came from beating up on a b...
This isn't rocket science. How many ads use pretty girls to get your attention, especially in a male dominated industry such as gaming? Couple that with a young, attractive team member... who wouldn't use her as the face of your product?
How many ads do you come across that you pay attention to because of a half naked woman or that pretty girl with the head set in customer service that just wants to help you fix your sink?
Did Jade get her producer position bec...
The Wii is suffering right now from 3rd parties jumping on the bandwagon. The console took everyone by surprise including developers that felt they needed to get a title out there good or bad to start soaking up some money. Of course there are some exceptions and some good 3rd party titles, but for the most part they are coming up short.
If you look at the 3 console makers you get the feeling MS and Sony are very supportive of 3rd parties, but do you get the feeling with Nint...
but couldn't you conclude everything is either old news if you can find a reference to it or a guess if you can't?
Until the "guesses" either come true or not who can say? If she/he gets 50% correct does that mean they were good guesses, coin flips or real information?
To me the whole surfer girl thing looks like a stab at publicity. She even said in an interview that she only reported game information to attract people to her political stories but it...
I'm really surprised R&C is not doing better. It's a great game for nearly any age and it has gotten a good amount of advertising.
Darkness is another one that has been out for a while that I think is a real sleeper hit. Not your garden variety FPS and a helluva a story to boot. I wonder how many people have overlooked that one due to its low profile.
The controller is one of the biggest sticking points to the casual gamer. It's too intimidating to someone that doesn't play games on a regular basis.
Nintendo did it perfectly, just point and move your arms around. Everyone can relate to that. Hand a casual gamer a 360 or PS controller and they are turned off immediately.
If Sony and Microsoft want to compete in the market Nintendo is dominating, they need to rethink more than just new software.
I agree with you on the set expectations. All the hype this game was getting.
On the length and having to rush through, that argument has been going around now, but I don't see how that can apply to just this game. How the heck does a reviewer review something like Oblivion which could take months if you fully explore it? There's so many games that have alot of added hours you could take if you weren't going through the just the core gameplay, that this argument could be rai...
Just because it is revolutionary it has to score high? A game at its core needs to entertain. I give kudos to Ubisoft for taking a chance on something new, more developers should do that, but you can be revolutionary AND entertain too.
I haven't played AC so I can't say if it is a 7 or a 10 or somewhere in between, but from this argument the high ratings should have been mailed in by reviewers before they even opened the box?
Maybe Ubisoft just created a great ...
Even in the reviews that gave it a high score it seems they mention the repetitive gameplay as a liability, but downplay that aspect of it in their final score.
Hard to say on such a new and different kind of game what will catch the reviewer's eye.
The game may still be a financial success considering all the marketing and PR put into it, even if it is getting below expected scores.
I imagine it is pretty deflating to have worked 3+ years on something only to have it not live up to expectations.
I'm a dad and I play the wii with my kids all the time. I grew up on games, so they are in my blood. They don't really touch the PS3 though as I haven't found too much that is kid friendly.
I try and limit how long they play since they are still young (5 and 7) and would literally play from sun up to sun down if we let them.
Right now my son and I are playing Lego Star Wars in co-op mode and having a great time.
I'm playing GOW I on my PS3 having not played either of them before and I can't find one fault with the game. Awesome from top to bottom.
GOW III on PS3 is going to be huuuugggeee
I'm glad I got a wii for my kids (yeah right) :)
Can't wait for this one to come out.
Fallout 1 is one of those games firmly etched in my memory. I didn't play 2, but really looking forward to 3. I know they will do the series proud.
I find the anticipation of an upcoming game to be almost as enjoyable as the game itself. Of course sometimes it can't live up to the expectations that are set, but when it does... that's the best.
Bard's Tale!
Maybe I'm an old fart, but man if that game didn't do it for me back in the 80's. I sat there with a pad of graph paper and drew every stinkin' room of every stinkin' place I went and loved it (Where the heck was the internet back then)! Wouldn't hold a candle today, but it hooked me forever on RPG's.