video games – Page 7 – Obsolete Gamer

Independent Adventure Games for the masses

Independent video game developers are like the artisans of yore. They aren’t wage slaves, they don’t exploit anyone else’s work, they are neither masters nor slaves, but creative people who strive for the quality of their product and don’t have to succumb to whatever ridiculous market realities managers can come up with. In short, they are to be supported, fiercely guarded even, as they’re (more or less) involuntary combating dominant modes of consumption and production. Oh, and let’s not forget the fine games the indy/bedroom developers have historically come up with. Games like Another World, Skool Daze, Darwinia, Simon the Sorcererand countless others that are all the proof you should ever need…

Humor

J.A. Laraque

Five Don’ts of gaming

You are not going for a Twin Galaxies record so when you decide to have a retro game night with your friends do not show how you can beat Super Mario Bros 3 with one life because it will just piss us off and make us retaliate on you. On the other hand, if you want to school your friends in a game of Temco Bowl go right ahead.

Editorials

Patrick Scott Patterson

What is gaming’s ‘Greatest Generation’?

Over the past several years I have seen and dealt with players who will put the topic up for constant debate. I have seen classic arcade gamers refer to anything console as “lame” and unimportant in comparison, even going so far as to note the NES as the death of their generation instead of the massive industry crash years before it. I have seen modern gamers question the loyalty of the classic gaming fans and I’ve seen every generation inbetween sing the virtues of their preferred generations of gaming.

Editorials

Jessi_Roman

Tips for a Gamer Mom or How NOT to be a Clara

Because, let’s face it. We aren’t kids anymore. We have kids! And we alone are responsible for leveling them up! We have to balance their skill trees, and make sure they’re always up to par for whatever life brings at them. Ok, yeah, that was cheesy, I know, but it’s TRUE! If you’re a parent and a gamer, you have got to recognize that your children are more important than your in game character. When they need your attention, don’t be afraid to upset your party by logging off. If your kids are more important to you than gaming, let them know by your actions!

Editorials

J.A. Laraque

Games & Candy

Most people are trying to be healthier now-a-days and even in gaming, where you spend most of the time sitting, there are things you can do to improve your overall health. However, sometimes you just want to enjoy some candy, and there are some awesome candies to eat during gaming that gives you that sugar rush and sweet taste to deal with even the most annoying wow kiddy.

Editorials

J.A. Laraque

Video Games and Life

Now to be fair I did not know gaming would lead me to meet friends online and then in person, but today that is a very common story. Just as internet dating was (and sometimes still is) looked upon as weird so was making real friends online, but that has changed. Sure, we can look at Facebook friends and laugh knowing that out of those 3000 you might have met 50, but even if you meet one or two they could change your life.

Blog

Eric Bailey

Retro Games Roundup: Nintendo Legend Reviews #1-5

Welcome to Retro Games Roundup, where we go back through Nintendo Legend’s library of NES reviews and go over them five games at a time, providing a summarized report of the titles and disseminating a lot of information into a more condensed, casual format.

Editorials

Patrick Scott Patterson

Are video games finally being accepted by the mainstream?

Any longtime gamer knows of that gut wrenching feeling that comes along when a mainstream media or entertainment source does a video game story. From news stories that claim violent video games are kid’s toys to Jay Leno jokes that paint gamers as basement dwellers and virgins, it often seems that the industry stats aren’t known by much of what passes as news and entertainment these days.

Editorials

Patrick Scott Patterson

Still Providing Raw Thrills: Eugene Jarvis has impacted over 30 years of gaming

“You start out with all these dreams and hopes,” he said. “Then reality sets in. You can’t do this because the technology isn’t there or you can’t do that because the budget or time isn’t there. Then something doesn’t work how you wanted it to. It feels like being on one of those old wagon trains going across the desert and one of your horses dies. Then you sometimes have your best moments, too, when you stumble across something cool and unexpected to add to the game.”

Blog

J.A. Laraque

Family Gamer TV Show Launches August 29th

The first season of ten shows will be published via Wired.com’s GeekDad blog http://www.wired.com/geekdad/ and on a purpose built FamilyGamerTV YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/familygamertv. These will air from late August and culminated with a Christmas special mid-November.

Blog

Patrick Scott Patterson

New project aims to preserve the history of video game landmarks

I had to pay a visit. I was pleased to see that both buildings are still in fantastic shape, and still look almost identical to pictures and news clips I would see back in the day. 1165 Borregas is empty but very well maintained, and looks almost identical to the photo that appeared in 1983 book Screen Play: The Story of Video Games by George Sullivan (one of the hundreds of books and magazines in my historical collection of the industry). 1196 Borregas looks identical to photos found in many old Play Meter Magazines and a YouTube video clip that I found since the visit.

Blog

J.A. Laraque

Video of the Day: Game Deaths

This video is just to awesome not to share. This video shows death scenes from various classic games to a great remix tune. Enjoy.

Blog

J.A. Laraque

China Couple sells kids to buy video games

After the couple was arrested, they claimed they did not know what they were doing was illegal stating: “We didn’t want to raise them. We just want to sell them for some money.” Apparently, the plan was to use the money from selling all three children to buy more games or gaming time at the café.

Editorials

Umar Khan

Cryptic Studio Has Moved On But Have Their Games?: Star Trek Edition

For those of you waiting for this review after the sudden ending of the previous portion of this two-part article, I apologize. I wasn’t having problems with time or just pure laziness. No, I had problems with how to word my feelings towards Star Trek Online and how best to give an honest review without completely belittling the game. I know, I know. You’re used to that kind of response from me but I decided to be a bit more delicate with how I explain the faults and pluses of STO.

Indie Games

Konstantinos Dimopoulos

Knightsquire

Knightsquire, lovingly crafted by none other than buloght (?), is apparently a game about a knight and his squire. Make that better a game about a knight, his squire and a door stuck shut. Not very epic in scope, but funny, quirky and touching on the delicate subject of squire-maltreatment (quite the class issue in medieval Europe), Knightsquire is a rather traditional point and click adventure, that’s slightly reminiscent of Gobliins 2

Indie Games

Konstantinos Dimopoulos

Feyruna: Fairy Forest

Feyruna – Fairy Forest will henceforth be referred to, probably features Feyruna, a fabulous fairy (which could also be the name of FFF’s setting mind you, but really, I like the idea of calling the fairy Feyruna), and is quite frankly an alliteration heavy casual and/or retro gamer’s wet dream. It also is one of the more polished (but less innovative…) indy games I’ve recently seen and one of the few PC offerings with three unlockable mini-games. They might not be much, they might be simple, basic even, but they’re definitely a touch that shows the amount of care gone into the game.

Editorials

Umar Khan

EQ2 Has The Worst Players On Erf!

I know I could easily deny myself of these experiences if I only made my own group and wrote off some of these people with my own iron fist ruling. Trust me, I have! I don’t take shit when I’m group leader. I don’t like having my time wasted while someone is eating shit in real life. This is my break before real life kicks in and you’re ruining those precious few hours I have. There are just sometimes where it’s easier to join an already forming group than taking the reins into your own hands.