Recent content by te2rx [deprecated]

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    100: The Slow Death of the Game Over

    I liked this article better the first time when it was called Killjoy: How Inconsequential Death Took the Fun out of Virtual Life [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/84/8], which went way beyond questioning whether quicksaving is for lamers or not, but rather the fundamental concepts of...
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    What Magazines Do You Read?

    I have a subscription to Game Developer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Developer_%28magazine%29]. Its "postmortem" articles are usually interesting, where developers discuss the trials and tribulations of the production of a certain game. They've been especially fascinating lately as...
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    Blizzard Unveils StarCraft II

    I played an RTS game recently (but not online) with a pause and slow-mo features -- Perimeter I think, and maybe something else. Slow/pause makes multitasking easier but it's still frustrating when too much is happening simultaneously. It's not really the same as turn-based where your units...
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    Blizzard Unveils StarCraft II

    hah, I'm late to the party. I imagine what prevented Blizzard from doing something substantially different (or anyone tasked with creating a Starcraft sequel) is its massive fanbase in places like Korea with all its pro televised tournaments and whatnot. In that context everything new you make...
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    Final Fantasy XII's Unfair Astrology

    The Zodiac Spear sounds pretty typical of JRPGs in general. Every time I play one of those damned games, I keep a faq/walkthrough open and read in advance exactly what I need to do in every area, because those JRPGs are just riddled with "you have to do this completely inane thing at this...
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    What have you been playing lately?

    played Knights of the Old Republic II... interesting game. I couldn't finish the first one because the dungeons were way too tedious, but this sequel is more balanced, at least in comparison to what I can remember of the first game. I like the variety of dialogue options offered despite being...
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    System Shock 2 Soundtrack Available For Download

    Amazing. I love the SS2 soundtrack... to the point where I'm actually one of the many who put together an unofficial soundtrack (mine is that one floating around eMule with the original bonus track). The thing about SS2 is the music is stored in the game CD as a bunch of music loops --...
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    92: I'd Rather Game than Read a Book

    In a way this sentance also suffers from the "tie fighters pulling up like an exotic fountain" problem. If you were a filmmaker you could (and I know this is "cheating" in a sense) have some voice-over narration that simply stays "Though none of the crew showed any emotion[...]" -- but there...
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    92: I'd Rather Game than Read a Book

    (devil's advocate mode. I'm aware of the sweeping generalizations I'm making here.) I think one of the points of the article is describing inherent shortcomings of the medium of written words. The choice of comparison (star wars franchise) is up for debate, but I think one of the points he...
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    What have you been playing lately?

    lately I've been (re)playing a lot of "urban" RPGs... I don't think that's actually a genre, but what I mean is the kind of game where you prioritize your conversational skills before your combat skills. Namely: Planescape Torment, Vampire Bloodlines, and Jade Empire (PC). In a way I see...
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    Halo 3 Editions Clarified

    heh, that's kind of neat... the Halo crazy edition. Makes me think of limited/collector's editions of stuff in Japan. For a lot of nerd-interest things, there's always some super edition of it for ~250% the normal price. I even know someone who bought the mega box of the second Ghost in the...
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    84: Killjoy

    I agree that designing games/levels that don't kill you every 5 steps is the way to go, but in conjunction you need a limited save system that makes sense and isn't exploitable. One of the most interesting save systems I've seen comes from Operation Flashpoint. The game has automatic...
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    Sony Pictures Filming Metal Gear Movie

    I read that headline, and I thought by "filming" they actually meant the movie was being filmed for real. Silly movie projects like these get announced all the time without ever materializing. I'm still waiting for that Dean Devlin Battletech/Mechwarrior movie, and all those anime-to-hollywood...
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    DRM: An Industry Changed

    Oops, I reported the above post on accident, mods please ignore that... Anyway, what did I just say about bringing in lost sales vs increased exposure arguments? That's a can of worms you don't want to open. From your anime example, think about those franchise shows like Naruto and Bleach...
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    DRM: An Industry Changed

    It's not necessarily an issue strictly regarding middlemen (distribution companies, record labels). You can still be an artist who self-publishes all the time. But regardless your stuff will still get warezed online (please resist the urge to bring in lost sales vs increased exposure...