9 November 2009 by mtvernon
It’s a weird time to be a gamer. This console generation’s lasted quite some duration already, and now we’re just kind of, what? Adding peripherals to everything? Come to think of it, pretty soon each of the Big Three hardware manufacturers will have released a motion-based supplement of some sort. Which is especially weird considering the Nintendo Wii launched with one.
And now Sony and Nintendo both are releasing FOURTH iterations of their respective portables?
Don’t get me wrong — I’m okay with not being pressured to purchase a radically different platform…my PSP-2000 will do me just fine for now, thanks. What I find strange is that it seems there’s only the barest skeleton of a plan dancing around these two new(?) gaming machines. The PSPgo is clearly positioned to offer consumers a download-only future, but its “Minis” line seems pretty ill-defined. The DSi XL makes some slim margin of sense, but less when you consider its release coming right on the heels of the not-yet-one-year-old DSi. Why these products, and why now?
What I’m wondering is whether there’s a consciously participatory approach to these systems’ designs. Perhaps both Sony and Nintendo intend to see how users respond to the devices and market from there?
Yes, it’s a weird time to be a gamer. But it’s probably even weirder being a consumer right now. What I’m certain of, though, is that being sold essentially the same thing with only incremental improvement is much less exciting than buying something truly new.
Posted in Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation Portable, entertainment, gaming, observation | Leave a Comment »
5 November 2009 by mtvernon
Tinkering
So my favorite part of last week’s “Pixtures” post was the gravestone lettering. Given my penchant for examining typeface, I decided to take things a step further and try coming up with my own thing. I (SEVERELY) limited myself to four pixels by six, wide or deep. The above screencap represents a first pass. More to come, I think.
Posted in MS Paint, Pixtures, lettering | Leave a Comment »
2 November 2009 by mtvernon
I just can’t win.
I’ve been dying to get finished with Fallout 3 for AGES. At about eighty-five hours in, I finally completed the main storyline, not to mention every single trophy-granting mini-quest. This was going to be the game that finally earned me that elusive Platinum Trophy. But for some reason or another, my “Scientific Pursuits” award never registered. Aggravating, but what the hell, right? Not like this game hasn’t earned another five or so hours of my time. Seemed as if I might as well go ahead and wrap things up, then start a new character for the Achievement.
So I pushed through the final narrative-driving bits, albeit feeling a little frustrated. I was resenting the fact I’d need to start again in order to earn this meaningless recognition that I’d become hopelessly obsessed with. And, once I’d finally completed the game, there was this hollow feeling haunting me. But it didn’t stem from what you might expect. Rather than lamenting my trophygrubbing ways, I’m convinced that I was just bummed to be supposedly “done” with Fallout 3.
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Tags: Fallout 3, Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, Fallout
Posted in Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, entertainment, gaming, observation | Leave a Comment »
26 October 2009 by mtvernon
I was listening to a podcast recently (can’t remember which) when the hosts started discussing this Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare sequence wherein ***SPOILER ALERT!!!*** one of the six playable characters dies. Thinking back on this moment — one that the gaming community has almost universally heralded as unique — it suddenly occured to me I’d seen virtually the same thing before…only in another medium. Not that the death of a game’s protagonist isn’t original or shocking; it absolutely felt that way to me. But, from a purely narrative standpoint, the killing off of someone your audience has come to identify with happens in, perhaps most notably, ***SPOILER ALERT???*** Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Which got me thinking about other unusual storytelling revelations that might adapt well to video gaming.
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Tags: Activision, Alfred Hitchcock, Call of Duty, Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Catch-22, Infinity Ward, Joseph Heller, Psycho
Posted in Microsoft Xbox 360, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, entertainment, film, gaming, literature, spoilers | Leave a Comment »
22 October 2009 by mtvernon
UTES Piece
Another Flipnote Studio project. This one is dramatically different from my first attempt and uses quite a few more frames of animation. Oddly enough, I’d consider it somewhat less ambitious and almost certainly vastly inferior.
Tags: UTENSIL, UTES
Posted in Flipnote Studio, Nintendo DS, graffiti | Leave a Comment »
19 October 2009 by mtvernon
Umberto Eco’s supplement to The Name of the Rose includes a great quote explaining his view of the postmodern condition. It’s pretty long, but I think it captures something we all feel, which is the presence of the past:
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Tags: The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
Posted in entertainment, gaming, literature, observation | 1 Comment »
