Devs Sound Off On What They Want To See From Tomorrow’s Xbox Reveal + New PS4 E3 Trailer

It won’t be long now…T minus 18 hours and counting until Microsoft finally unveils its next generation of gaming. Now eight years since the original Xbox 360 units shipped (the number one selling console in North America for 28 straight months), Microsoft is finally ready to share its “vision for Xbox, and give you a real taste of the future.”

Everybody knows about the rumors on what the next Xbox could come with including those disheartening always online requirements, every next gen Xbox needing a Kinect or a Kinect-like set up to function as well Microsoft’s continuing lack luster treatment of indie developers. Scroll down to check out what a select group of devs and industry professionals feel about this and want they want to see ouf of tomorrow’s Xbox reveal. Sony has also dropped a brand new PS4 teaser trailer (probably hoping to quell excitement on tomorrow’s Xbox event), where we catch a brief and blurry image of what the hardware could actually look like.

Continue reading “Devs Sound Off On What They Want To See From Tomorrow’s Xbox Reveal + New PS4 E3 Trailer” »

How SAINTS ROW IV Will Bring “A Level of Freedom of Movement Never Before Seen In an Open World Game”

Volition’s fourth entry in its over-the-top Saints Row franchise is set to hit stores this summer on August 20th. The highly anticipated open world title will introduce a host of new features this time around while still maintaing what fans have loved over 11 million times since the series was introduced in 2006.

Along with the game’s new alien enemies: Zinyak and his Zin Empire, Saints Row IV will introduce a host of super powers to the player that are split into two different categories, movement powers and combat powers. As you can see in the recent gameplay video below players will be able to leap over buildings soar around the city, run 90mph, freeze cars and slide them around the streets, throw fire projectiles and much more. 

Continue reading “How SAINTS ROW IV Will Bring “A Level of Freedom of Movement Never Before Seen In an Open World Game”” »

What EA Getting Rid of Online Passes Tells Us About The Games Industry (And Gamers)

From out of the heavens this week, EA reigned down the announcement that they will discontinue their practice of online passes. For those not privy to how the “passes” work(ed), a customer who bought a second hand or used game had to purchase an additional, separate pass to access the game’s online features (which usually cost around 10 bucks). If you buy the game new, the “online pass” could be activated with a code included with the game.

The measure allowed the publisher to pocket some coin on the sale of a used game; while EA is largely credited with beginning the practice, it has since been adopted by publishers Activision and Ubisoft. However, EA, in impeccable corporate speak, said the practice is donezo: Continue reading “What EA Getting Rid of Online Passes Tells Us About The Games Industry (And Gamers)” »

Three Gaming Blogs Run By Ladies to Keep An Eye Out For!

The thing I enjoy most about networking with other female gamers are that you learn some interesting things about them. Moreover, with all of the male-run gaming information sites, it’s always a great breath of fresh air to see one or two that’s entirely run by females, that’s fair, tackles all of the tough issues, and can still give you a great review of your favorite (or not so) favorite video games as well. I will say, that as a girl who is a gamer, it’s hard to find blogs that actually emphasize certain female gaming issues as opposed to making a mockery of it.

Unfortunately, these are the blogs/pages that are often overlooked, and it’s usually because (from what I understand, and have seen firsthand) when a few people hear the words, “Girl gaming blog”, some people have a tendency to believe that at any, given moment, while scrolling through the blog, there will be some feminist rant on how awful all male gamers are, or, perhaps a picture of a half-naked Cloud from Final Fantasy that will pop up out of nowhere.

But I’ve found that more than not, it’s all very untrue (and unfortunately true for some blogs). Continue reading “Three Gaming Blogs Run By Ladies to Keep An Eye Out For!” »

There Can Never Be A Citizen Kane Of Video Games (Don’t Worry, That’s A Good Thing!)

No, no, no, hold your horses, this isn’t saying games will never be as good as films, or that Citizen Kane is the almighty work of art or something, this is something a bit more important. This is about history, and understanding what a word like “Citizen Kane” means, and what a discussion about Orson Welles’ legendary film actually means for the gaming world.

In 20th/21st century art terms, “Citizen Kane” is shorthand for “greatest film of all time.” The shorthand implication is that a work created in 1941 is somehow the greatest cinematic work, embodying everything the form has to offer and unstoppable by any following work of art.  Continue reading “There Can Never Be A Citizen Kane Of Video Games (Don’t Worry, That’s A Good Thing!)” »

Armed With Nothing But a Flashlight, Pistol, and Cassette Tapes, RECEIVER Immerses You Unique Cyberpunk World

Originally created for the 7-day FPS challenge and recently Greenlit on Steam, Receiver is much more than your average first person shooter. Developed by Wolfire Games, the experience takes an extremely unique and somewhat realistic approach to gun handling mechanics along with its minimalistic aesthetic and intense difficulty.

Receiver is a rogue-like experience where players are armed with only a gun, a flashlight and a cassette player. The player will have to learn how to reload and maintain their weapon with an intense amount of detail and precision.

Scroll down to check out our exclusive interview with Receiver programmer David Rosen along with gameplay footage from the latest content update and a developer overview video of the game’s mechanics.

Continue reading “Armed With Nothing But a Flashlight, Pistol, and Cassette Tapes, RECEIVER Immerses You Unique Cyberpunk World” »

Stop Your Crusade, Internet — This Isn’t Justice, It’s an Inquisition

Fair warning, this story is going to get complicated and messy. And due to the dark nature of the inciting incident, I’m putting a trigger warning at the top of the article for discussion of suicide and sexual harassment. There are a lot of tough issues at the heart of this tragedy, and to be honest, I’m not going to come out of this thing with an answer to any of the problems I’m about to show you.

But dammit internet. We’ve got to talk about this stuff. Continue reading “Stop Your Crusade, Internet — This Isn’t Justice, It’s an Inquisition” »

Gamers Weigh In On: The Top 10 Video Game Mothers

In honor of Mother’s Day, I asked readers to send in their favorite MILFS in the video gaming world. Because let’s face it; whether they gave birth to the heroes and heroines we love and admire, helped raise them, or they are in battle themselves, kicking ass and taking names, these ladies put the “bad” in “Bad Mamajama”.

So, here they are, in no specific order, your favorite MILFS of the video game world:

Jun Kazama (Supposedly the character “Unknown”): Tekken 2

Mother of: Jin Kazama

“Let’s hear it for the woman who gave birth to the legendary Akuma Jin, lived to tell about it, and is still the best looking woman in the entire series, and if the rumors are true, then she’s apparently TTT-2’s final boss: Unknown. They need to bring her back ASAP.”—Camden

Lulu: Final Fantasy X/X-2.

Lulu (Right), Pictured with Yuna (Bottom left)

Mother of: Vidina

“I was seriously shocked when I played Final Fantasy X-2 and learned Lulu was pregnant. I mean I think it’s pretty safe to say that it was a HUGE shock to everyone that even she married Wakka, but seriously! COME ON! Opposites attract much? Anyway, Lulu is my favorite video game mom because she’s not only a badass, but she managed to whip Wakka into shape (and apparently, not magically show during her pregnancy). She has always been my favorite favorite Final Fantasy vixen and moreso now that she’s a mom.”–Jessie, 26

Maya (AKA: Crimson Viper):  Street Fighter

Mother Of: Lauren

“I think it came as a huge surprise to we, the undisputed champions of Street Fighters, to discover that Crimson Viper of all people, has a daughter named Lauren. Seriously, Viper herself is a fearsome, money-grubbing diva-esque CIA badass that looks like a pretty hot fetish/worst nightmare rendition of your boss. So she’s like the last person I ever expected to have a kid, but sure enough…

Then you gotta realize this: Some man, somewhere on this planet, actually survived (or not) some incredibly violent sex with this woman. I don’t know if Lauren’s dad is a stay at home father or possibly lying in that same bed where Viper left him after breaking his pelvic bones. Either way, you can’t deny that with her mom being like the top hottest/smartest MILF in the video game world, her daughter is gonna be equally awesome. Or just as batshit crazy.”—Leandra

Sophitia: Soul Calibur series.

Mother Of: Pyrrha (Daughter), and Patroklos (Son)–Not pictured

“Sophitia wins hands down for being the HOTTEST video game milf every created. I don’t play Soul Calibur for the plot but, if I did, it would be mainly because Sophitia is built like a brick house. AND manages to keep her awesome body after she has two kids and still manages to travel all over the world defeating Soul Edge? One of these days, gonna marry a woman like her. Finally: here are some big breasts that actually make sense. Sorta.“–Tyler

Ayame: Dead Or Alive

Mother Of: Kasumi, Ayane, and Hayate

“Ayame is my favorite video game mom because even though she was raped by Raidou (that’s how Ayane was born and Raidou is also her husband’s brother), she still manages to love her daughter, but in her own special way. I’m pretty sure there are some kind of abortion ninjutsus she could have used, but in the end, Ayame decided to give birth to Ayane who is also named very closely after her. Plus she also gave birth to Kasumi who is like the FACE of Dead Or Alive. And Hayate. Who, you know, is just eyecandy.”–Monica

Eva: Metal Gear Solid

(Foster) Mother Of: Solid Snake and Liquid Snake.

“Can we just take a minute to talk about the ULTIMATE Bond girl, Eva? I mean what else do you need to know? She raised Solid Snake and Liquid Snake.”—Richard

Tifa: Final Fantasy: Advent Children

(Foster) Mother Of: A lot of kids—and not one of em belongs to Cloud (unfortunately).

“When A.C first came out, and I saw all these kids running around, I literally paused and freeze-framed every, single, last scene featuring those brats and I was extremely disappointed to know that even after Tifa and Cloud had been shacked up for however many years after the events of Final Fantasy 7, didn’t get married or even have some spontaneous sex that would result in one of those kids.

Getting real tired of your emotional shit, Cloud.

Still, Tifa has a gift; the ability to nurture all of these children, and put up with a big manchild like Cloud makes her one of my favorite video game MILFS.”—Sam

Queen Sindel: Mortal Kombat

Mother Of: Princess Kitana

“Sindel’s been giving me boners since 1995. She looks scary as all hell, but she’s actually supposed to be a very kind character. Not only is she strong, but she gave is Kitana. Her awesome looks and power are clearly some damn good genetics.”—Raphael 

Who are your favorite video game mothers/MILFS? Which ones would you like to add to the list?

Everybody Calm Down, Kickstarter Is Fine

Seriously guys, it’s okay. Everything’s gonna be fine.

There’s an argument I’ve had with several people over the last few days, among them my compatriot Paul Nyhart, who wrote this article proclaiming Kickstarter is headed for the dead zone. The argument is that bigger institutions are joining the crowdfunding craze and this (somehow) damages the movement. Seriously? Continue reading “Everybody Calm Down, Kickstarter Is Fine” »

Why Live Action Video Game Trailers Work

The concept of the live action trailer for video games is weirdly fascinating to me. Over the last two weeks, Bethesda, Activision and 2K all announced their new titles not with a demonstration of the actual game, but with live action trailers–content designed to replicate cinema instead of games, but usually marketing games which mimic closely cinema or other art forms to begin with. The fact that they blur the lines between game and cinema, sometimes knocking it out of the park with experiences that expand of the fiction of the game, make them a cool thing to study while talking about the experience of being a gamer. Continue reading “Why Live Action Video Game Trailers Work” »

Whatever Happend to Awesome Japanese Games? How Nyu Media Is Bringing JAPANESE Games Back to The Gaming World

Nyu Media is responsible for bringing over some really high quality Japanese indie titles to North America and Europe. The company has already localized and published nine games and has the “highest number of Japanese indie games (seven titles) published on Valve’s Steam.”

Currently, Nyu Media is working on localizing The Tale of ALLTYNEX through Kickstarter. Developed by well respected Japanese indie game devs SITER SKAIN, The Tale of ALLTYNEX is a trilogy of arcade shooting games that have garnered a strong niche following among the hardcore shmup crowd. The trilogy features a beautifully chaotic, action based gameplay, interesting weapons, adaptive difficulty, and awesome set-piece moments all wrapped up in solid game design and a tight control scheme.

Scroll down to check out our exclusive interview with Nyu founder Seon King along with some gameplay footage from the Tale of ALLTYNEX and a link to the free english playable demo. 
Continue reading “Whatever Happend to Awesome Japanese Games? How Nyu Media Is Bringing JAPANESE Games Back to The Gaming World” »

How Mods And Community Managers Fight For Your Behalf And How You Could Join Their Ranks

A few days ago, we got tipped off to some possible scuttlebut on the recent launch of the new Star Trek video game. It seems in spite of the game’s multiple terrible reviews, a few gamers were still giving the game positive ratings on Metacritic. The conspiracy? That these reviews were planted by Namco Bandai or Digital Extremes.

It’s strange that this idea doesn’t really come as shocking to the game community, when publishers have in the past levied some shady tactics like getting a Gamespot reviewer fired for giving Kane and Lynch a bad review or tying developer’s bonuses to Metacritic scores as in the case of Fallout New Vegas. Even while publishers like Valve are laboring tirelessly to earn their customers’ support, developers and publishers can face an inordinate amount of distrust from the gaming community.

But the thing is, it’s rarely the developers or publishers who face the criticism ladled at them on forums or through Twitter. It’s often the moderators and community managers who have to face gamers’ ire. These are the people you probably see hovering around the World of Warcraft forums or answering your tickets in the game’s support section. They fulfill an important gap between the engineers and creatives who design the game and the players who want to get their feedback heard. Especially in online multiplayer games, where changes fly fast and updates arrive sometimes on a monthly basis, this interaction is incredibly important to the survival of certain games. 

I spoke with James Baldwin, former moderator for Trion Worlds’ MMORPG “Rift” and current marketing manager for Will Pwn 4 Food, wanting to learn more about what it’s like to be on the front lines.

James got his start with Acclaim Game’s MMO 2 Moons, when he decided he wanted to help  out with what was a really fun game. “I enjoyed the game and decided to help out! Just to see whatever I could do to help the game because that’s what I do. If I like something, I’ll do whatever I can to support the growth of it. Eventually I started volunteering with their in-game game master stuff, but very very quickly, I was put in charge of the community and all the volunteers that were working within the game.”

The first thing we talked about was why anyone would even want to get into this stressful job in the first place. It turns out Baldwin’s passion for supporting others was what made him pursue that moderating career as he went from game to game. I asked him what was really rewarding about working as a moderator and community manager for gamers.

“For me, it’s a two-part thing. First of all, it’s the learning experience. No matter how much time you spend in this industry, you’re always learning. Whether it’s more about things about the physical roles of the job or it’s just learning from the community, they have so much to teach you at all times and as much as your ears open (which they should be) you’ll continue to learn. The second part is the exact opposite, and that’s the teaching side and being able to relay a lot of information out. I’m consistently finding myself in a teaching role as a community manager. This could be teaching new players how to play a game, educating newer employees on tools & processes or even helping fellow community managers with problems, I’m always looking for ways to help pass on the information I’ve learned from someone else.

Baldwin describes his role as being largely that of a translator; taking feedback from the community and packaging it into something useful for the developers, and taking responses from the developers and taking them back to the community. “The relationship between community teams and devs can be challenging at times since the two teams tend speak two different languages. Like with anything though, the more you understand and the more work with each other, the more you’ll learn what works best in terms of relaying information back and forth.” Maintaining that relationship isn’t always easy. From the developer end, not being able to explain certain information to the players can sometimes be a curse. “Because there are constantly things (patches, content, etc) that are working through the pipeline with the development team, there’s no way you can talk about those changes with people outside of the company until they’ve hit a certain point in the development process. There are too many examples of times when people have made statements such as ‘oh, this feature is coming in the next patch,’ and for whatever reason it doesn’t, (doesn’t matter if it’s cut, if it’s broken from QA, or whatnot) there’s a major backlash from the community.”

And at the player end, things can sometimes get pushed to incorrect extremes: “People will be unhappy with certain aspects. The ones who are more vocal are the ones who are going to say ‘you guys screwed up here,’ ‘you guys need to improve this,’ or they’ll actually look at a lead, whether it’s a lead designer or lead developer and say well this person screwed us over and they’ll try to pinpoint responsibilities on one particular person. Making a game–every small thing you want to change in a game has so many people, so many teams involved that it’s never one person’s responsibility or one person’s decision. That’s why you’ll see rules in many of these larger communities, (normally known as the code of conduct) that says you can’t call people out by name.”

That comment brought back some memories—back in my World of Warcraft days, I remembered how hard the communities would come down on devs like Furor or Kaplan back when Paladins weren’t really capable of any DPS. In retrospect, there was never any evidence for those conspiracy theories—Furor getting singled out was largely based on his hardcore raiding experience in Everquest that emphasized healers being locked in healer roles, and I can’t even remember why Kaplan was on the list. But as Baldwin pointed out, Blizzard was pretty kind to let any kind of discussion of the devs take place to begin with: “Most of the games I have seen, they generally don’t tolerate that sort of stuff, and if they do allow stuff like that it’s very heavily moderated. At the end of the day, a dev bashing session does no good for anyone. Get the constructive feedback, that’s fine, and we’ll pass that on, but just coming out and saying ‘this person does this’ or ‘that person did that’ doesn’t contribute anything or help anyone.”

So to sum it all up, why is this even worth it for Baldwin? “It’s part of the job. This is not a job you walk into off the street. This is something you prepare yourself for, this is something you know what you’re getting into most of the time. The way customer service works in almost any industry is that the majority of the people you’re going to hear from are the people unhappy with their experience. But when you go to a con like PAX, you see people with the biggest grins on their faces and they’re so happy to meet you. They’re so excited about your game, and seeing that face and their expressions and dealing with your fans face to face is just a surreal feeling. Everytime that happens it comes into my favorite moments in that line of work.”

Developers, Scientists and Modders Work To Create a Spellbinding Experience In TUG

TUG is not your average fantasy, sandbox RPG and the dev team at Nerd Kingdom is not necessarily made up of your average game makers. TUG is a game that weighs heavily on social sciences and what the dev team calls “visual association.” Made up of academic scientists, game developers and modders, Nerd Kingdom attempts to bring an unprecedented level of realistic, visual feedback to the player in TUG. 

The team even tells us that they were inspired and motivated by the Jace Hall Show, “…Watching Jace and Todd, we saw that people could break out of their norm while still staying true to their culture…” More on this below.

Continue reading “Developers, Scientists and Modders Work To Create a Spellbinding Experience In TUG” »

A Lady’s Review Of Scarlet Blade

I’d have honestly never known anything about this game even existing had a guy friend named Jessie not called me, asking to borrow my Queen’s Blade dvds. While we’re engaging in nerdy otaku talk, he asks me:

“That reminds me. Did you know Queen’s Blade became a game?”

I most certainly had not, and was stoked to play it, given my fondness for the anime. So, I ask him what platform it’s for.

“It’s an MMORPG game. I’ll email you the link. Except it’s called “Scarlet Blade” and not “Queen’s Blade”. There’s honestly no difference between the two, in my own opinion.”

Already, I should have known what was awaiting me, but I want to give you a quick image of what awaits you.

For those who have never heard of Queen’s Blade, it’s an anime series that feature an all, (hypersexualized) female cast wearing what can only be considered “joke armor” because they aren’t covered at all and that armor would serve zero purpose. The overall point of the series is that every four years, the strongest (and most beautiful) female warriors compete in a tournament to become queen of The Continent.

And if you’re still questioning the validity of these character’s designs, allow me to turn your attention to the bunny girl in pink.

So, naturally, I got all sorts of geeked that there was an MMORPG of Queen’s Blade, mainly because, again, I have a fondness for the show, which, despite it’s more…er…obvious postives, displays a strong storyline and incredible character development. These may be female characters with watermelon sized breasts, absurd body measurements, and useless body armor, but I was willing to overlook it in favor of the progressive storylines and intense battle scenes, all of which were drawn beautifully (Also, it was drawn by– and intended for–men. I expected nothing less.) And I expected nothing short of Scarlet Blade, either.

…Except. Well, Scarlet Blade isn’t anything like Queen’s Blade at all. As I would later learn, they aren’t even created by the same company, and are in no way are related.

Almost.

Scarlet Blade (Rated “M” for “Mature) is a sci-fit MMORPG, set in the distant future, with an all-female character cast of powerful warriors of various classes and races, and was developed by LivePlex and published by Aeria Games.

First, I checked out the trailer, which looked interesting enough:

Conrad Zimmerman of destructoid.com calls it: “...The most shameless F2P game yet. I mean that with every, possible connotation.”, adding further:

“…And breasts are everywhere (which makes sense, as all player characters are female), even on people who appear to be far below the age at which one would even be capable of producing them. And, for $20, you can set those jubblies loose and “unlock” their lingerie — which seems as though it’s really more about making you pay money if you ever want to equip anything useful than any titillation, but that certainly shouldn’t stop anyone from selling objectification as a commodity.”

Gamehaunt.com lists the pros and cons of the game as:

Pros:

“PVP Oriented
Intense Battlefields
Beautiful Environment
Awesome Mech-Mode”

And lists one of the cons as:

“Silly excuse for porn”. (But gives the game a review of 3.8/5)
And devilsmmo.com calls it,

“…Quite a capable little MMO might just cements it to first place.”, giving the game an overall score of 6/10, listing the positives as:

*”It’s actually good!”
*”Bright and bold”
*”Classy stuff”.  

BUT. The review that almost always popped up was a video runthrough of the game by youtube user: Niichts, who doesn’t pull any of his punches during this absolutely hysterical review:

So, with my curiosity more than piqued, I headed over to the website where the game is available for download. As I’ve already mentioned, the game is rated M for Mature, so you must be over the age of eighteen to play it.

Next, I checked out the features, with the most obvious one I took the liberty of highlighting:

Hot women (“amazons”) who were designed to kill, rely on no man to save them, and are experts at their trade: Okay. I can get behind this, even with beyond absurd designs of the women. (I’ll touch upon this a bit later.)

So, with nothing else really stopping me, I went ahead and began the painfully long process of downloading this game:   It took me FOUR TIMES for the program to actually download properly (this is a common bug in the program, I later learned), and then about an hour later, after logging in almost five different times, which is what the game makes you do, the program crashed. So, I had to uninstall the entire program from jumpstreet, and do it all over again.

To put it succinctly, I lost my bloody mind, ESPECIALLY when my computer froze and crashed.

Flash forward three hours later (after rebooting my computer two different times because the program caused it to crash), I was finally in, and able to get it working. Once that, and a few other technicalities are out of the way, it’s time to get started with the actual gameplay.

So, random and pointless banter aside, here is my review of the game, Scarlet’s Blade, and what I would rate it, out of a 1-to5 system (with five being the highest)– 

Plot:  2/5

There isn’t a plot. Now, do I mean that in the literal sense? Oh, no. There’s definitely a plot, but it’s genuinely lost amongst the half-naked women running around. And it’s a shame too because when you first boot up the game for the first time, it tells you that there are one of two paths you must choose to follow, and why you should follow that specific path:

And see, it has the undeniable potential to be a great game. I can’t even be mad at the two women above, because they are beautifully drawn and do a fairly good job representing their two, two sides of the story: “Good Vs. Evil”, and it’s interesting because each side is trying to tell you why the other side is “evil”, so really, this has the potential to be a great game, in my own, humble opinion. Who doesn’t love a good, solid story about rebellion, what society perceives as “good” and “evil”, conflicting ideals, a really good and gripping storyline that has you, the player, wondering if the path you chose to take is really the “right” one?

Unfortunately, the gratuitous amounts of fanservice, and the option to unlock (buy) full-frontal nudity cheapens the game in an almost tragic way, and the deterioration of the plot begins from the moment you choose your class/character, with the most insulting being that you have option of knowing the breast size of the character you are playing as, which can all be found under the Class (or lack thereof) Feature on the website:

Bust:34E, Waist:23, Hips:34.

What is interesting to note, however, is that all of the classes are based off of certain races of specific parts of the world. For example, the Medic (as well as the Sentient) is listed as their clone DNA’s being that of Northern European, which I thought was interesting.

The Defender and the Punisher are North American, The Whipper (and let’s get real here, she’s just a revamped Ivy from Soul Calibur) is South American, and the Shadow Walker is Northern Eurasian. It’d be interesting to see more classes/races open up in the future.

Like any MMORPG, you have the option to follow the storylines, and complete missions, unlocking new ones along the way, and you engage in multiple battles, but…that’s it. For the most part, it’s just a bunch of half-naked women running around killing things.

If you’re genuinely interested in the plot, the website updates it’s, “The Story Thus Far” section, so you have atleast a tiny inkling of what on earth is going on in these games: http://scarletblade.aeriagames.com/overview/story

So, let me rephrase that, then: There is a plot. It’s just that it makes a better book than it does a game, since again, most aren’t going to be focusing on a great storyline when they get the chance to unlock and strip naked women with enormous breasts.

Graphics: 3.5/5

I was particularly generous with this, mainly because you cannot deny it’s a beautifully designed game, with beautifully drawn characters. The graphics are sharp and clean, the various patterns and designed used to indicate it is a more sci-fi world are gorgeous, and the landscapes, though standard of a battlefield for a MMORPG are clean cut. This game does a great job using dimensions, bright colors, and shows particular attacks with great fervor.

But still. A game have the most beautiful landscapes, the most intense cutscenes, and all of the flawlessy designed characters, worlds, and horizons ever, but, unfortunately, all of the compensation of great graphics in the world isn’t enough to make up for it’s plot, and you will grow bored after a while. 

Gameplay: 3/5

Not as bad as I was expecting. The camera has a tendency to go haywire, but only rarely, and as far as glitches and bugs, they are few and far apart. The gameplay is simple, with basic commands and controls for that of any basic, battle-based MMORPG, but again, it gets repetitive after the first ten minutes or so.

But if you are into mechanics, physics, and sci-fi, this might be a good fit for you.

Sound/Voice Acting:  2/5

If I hadn’t recognized one of the voices immediately as one of my favorite voice over actresses, I would have just assumed the voices of these women are all from that of low-budget porn stars. Some of the voices are absolutely grating they always sound drenched in hypersexuality whenever they speak in a way that sounds fake a porny. Even the sounds they make when they are attacked, or die, are nothing short of sexual moans, gasps, grunts, groans and screams. I genuinely couldn’t tell if they were dying or faking an orgasm.

The battle music is simple, and nothing to really call home about.

However, the sound effects of the more serious attacks and magic performed are rather good.

Final Thoughts/Judgement:

Let’s start with the most obvious negative thing here, particularly if you’re a woman who wants to actually wants to play this game, or a are a man who cannot stand to see women blatantly and sexually objectified on a completely different level, back away now.

There are wildly disproportionate women everywhere. If you choose to play this game, you go into it already knowing this. In fact, it’s the main point of this game. And not a single one wears hardly any clothes, and yes, for just the fee of twenty dollars (and a little bit more), you can unlock the lingerie beneath the armor, and yes, eventually get your character in the full nude.

If you are looking for a game that realistically portrays female warriors who are actually fully clothed, then this is not the game for you. You’re not just barking up the wrong tree; you’re in an entirely different forest, on a different continent that’s located on another planet in a galaxy far, far, far, far away.

There is no way I could actually play this game seriously–maybe occasionally, and just like for the reason I watch Queen’s Blade, for the budding plot and engrossing storyline–but, it’s nothing to call home about. The game is decent at best, but it’s clearly directed at a specific demographic, and be you male or female, you’ll either enjoy it, or hate it totally. This game already has mixed reviews; I’m just adding my own to the fray.

As for how I personally feel as a female gamer who played this game, I’ll be honest: I can’t even be angry because the obectification in this game is laughable. It’s genuinely one of those games you look at and think, “Are you being SERIOUS right now?”. This was a game created for those who enjoy ginormous breasts, little plot, and need something else to fap to.

Now, would I, as a female gamer, like to see my warrior ladies wearing actual armor that serves a purpose? Sure. I mean let’s be at least logical here: If I were on the battlefield with monsters coming after me, I’d like all of me covered, especially my torso where, if anyone has ever taken biology, knows that’s where a good majority of my vital organs are currently residing.

That’s why it makes even less sense to just cover a female warrior’s boobs (and usually crotch in a bikini-style codpiece). No risk of attack to my stomach and my entrails, right? Moreover, it isn’t like the ginorous size of a female’s characters breasts would hinder her ability to perform in action, right? No chance of them getting in the way at all!

(And clearly, this is something that all of the characters have managed to adjust to juuuuust fine.)

But, again, as I have said, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But if half-naked, digitial women with enormous breasts, borderline pornographic sounding voices, and little next to no plot are yours, drink up.

For those wanting a bit more out of our MMORPG’s: Stay thirsty, my friends.

EVO Fighting Game Tournament Founders Tom and Tony Cannon Tell Us About Their New Game: STONEHEARTH

Tom and Tony Cannon are the founders of the popular EVO fighting game tournament and they have recently taken to Kickstarter to help fund their new game: Stonehearth. Although, this may not be the kind of game you are expecting from these two hardcore fighting gamers, the two have created a beautiful art style and a unique take on the sandbox strategy genre.

Essentially “Stonehearth is a city-management game, where you guide a tiny group of settlers to first survive, then hopefully thrive and grow into a flourishing town,” the Cannon brothers told the Jace Hall Show. Players will need to gather resources, craft tools and items, build structures and protect their settlement from encroaching marauders.

Continue reading “EVO Fighting Game Tournament Founders Tom and Tony Cannon Tell Us About Their New Game: STONEHEARTH” »

From The Inner City To Private Schools, How Video Games Can Help Solve U.S. Educational Problems

Fremont High School – South Central Los Angeles

In 1973, a man named Bob Jamison put together a computer program aimed at teaching kids economics and the basics of building your own business. The game was called Lemonade Stand, and is widely regarded as one of the first educational video games.

Less than a decade later, Math Blaster landed on computers, allowing kids to control a spaceship while learning basic to advanced math skills. Oregon Trail and Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego were also born, as was the genre of educational video games.

Fast forward to 2013, where the earliest iteration of video games maintain their nostalgia, but have given way to a new breed of educational gaming systems with ambitions beyond being “fun breaks” in the curriculum.

The so-called “Godfather of video games”, Nolan Bushnell (whose company Atari was created around the same time as “Lemonade Stand) has begun his own endeavor to turn video games into a vital educational tool with his new company BrainRush. Another company, Qwizdom, has been in the business of using video games and interactive technology to enhance learning in the classroom for years. Continue reading “From The Inner City To Private Schools, How Video Games Can Help Solve U.S. Educational Problems” »

How Much Money Do Video Game Executives Make? You Don’t Want to Know

All smiles…

It was a good year to be Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in 2012 (at least if you’re into money and stuff). It was released this week that Kotick will pocket $64.9 million for his efforts at the game company responsible for Call of Duty (and that owns) Diablo, WoW and Starcraft.

Kotick is often painted as the Monty Burns of the video game industry, not in that he was once shot by a baby with a pacifier, rather that he seems to care about nothing else other than money. There is something of a kicker to all of this, the payments for Kotick are laid out over five years and are tied to certain goals for company performance (my guess is at least one live action COD trailer a year).

This would put Kotick just behind Oracle CEO Larry Ellison ($96 million) as one of the highest paid CEO’s in the United States, let alone the game industry. Continue reading “How Much Money Do Video Game Executives Make? You Don’t Want to Know” »

New Study Links Autism with “Video Game Addiction”, Here’s What We Need To Keep In Mind

A research team at the University of Missouri found that indivudals with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) were more drawn to screen based media like gaming and TV, and thus could be more inclined to develop ”addictive patterns to video games.”

“We found that children with ASD spent much more time playing video games than typically developing children, and they are much more likely to develop problematic or addictive patterns of video game play.”

Several media outlets decided to run with their own headlines, claiming that the report not only indicated a pre-occupation with video games but “compulsive behavior”, however there still is no direct correlation between being “drawn to screen based media” and developing “addictive patterns of gameplay”. I decided to go one step further and see if there was any empirical evidence to support the link between autism (which is diagnosed in roughly 5 out of every 1,000 kids in the U.S.) and excessive video game playing. Continue reading “New Study Links Autism with “Video Game Addiction”, Here’s What We Need To Keep In Mind” »

I Loved Fire Emblem: Awakening, But I Still Couldn’t Overlook This Huge Problem

The Fire Emblem series first waves in America after two of its iconic heroes, Roy and Marth, first appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee back in 2001, with a proper entry landing in North America in 2003. While the series is primarily known for its medieval fantasy strategy elements and story-based focus, Fire Emblem Awakening on the 3DS has one of the side mechanics of the series–its unit support system, to the foreground of both the gameplay and narrative elements of the story.

For those not familiar with the support system, it basically works like this–characters who stand near each other in battle can develop relationships, ranking from C to S. Depending on how high a unit’s relationship with another character is, it can influence that character’s outcome at the end of the game and make them stronger in battle. In older titles, characters could gain S rank support with 1 character of any gender, representing romance if it was between two characters of opposite genders, and long-lasting friendship if it was with a same-gendered character. In Awakening, S-ranked support is reserved strictly for marriage. Continue reading “I Loved Fire Emblem: Awakening, But I Still Couldn’t Overlook This Huge Problem” »

Ignoring Their Own Lessons: Why ‘Skyward Sword’ Has Me Worried About Nintendo

I’m worried about the Zelda series. The Legend of Zelda has been around for over a quarter of a century now and is near and dear to many gamers’ hearts. I am one of those gamers. But after being disappointed by the past two major entrees in the franchise, I’m growing increasingly concerned.

Last week’s announcement of a sequel to A Link to the Past excited many, but left me feeling like Nintendo is once again trying to placate us with nostalgia. This all got me thinking about what makes Zelda games great.

Setting is a key component and one of my primary issues with Skyward Sword. The setting of a game, the world it takes place in, is an important element of how games tell stories. While this is true of all types of stories, the interactivity of games give their settings a more unique function. Games give us agency within stories by letting us become a part of them, so game worlds serve as the lens through which we experience narrative. We aren’t passively watching events unfold through a screen, but taking the reins of a character and guiding them through the setting. This affords unique storytelling opportunities, as the Zelda series illustrates. Continue reading “Ignoring Their Own Lessons: Why ‘Skyward Sword’ Has Me Worried About Nintendo” »