There are Triple-A titles…and then there are Single-A titles. It’s just like minor league baseball. And then there are titles that- like my hometown team the Worcester Tornadoes- don’t even qualify for an “A”. Most media companies such as video game publishers follow a three-tiered “Killer-Pillar-Filler” strategy. And as such, somebody has to make the filler. But I do not mean to sound like a sarcastic ass about all this. After all, the realm of reduced expectations is where pleasant surprise sleeper hits come from- think Scribblenauts, Demon’s Souls and especially Angry Birds (and the success of the download…
Author: CptCluster
I’m still in New Mexico, and I still don’t have a TV. I don’t know what being in New Mexico has to do with not having a TV, but I think it makes the fact that I can’t play console games all summer that much more painful, and poignant. I can only lust after new releases, from afar. I’ve been trying to put gaming out of my mind, to spare my aching heart, but one soon-to-be-released title has managed despite everything to grab my attention. And that game is Bodycount.
I am old. I am so, so very old. I just turned 30 this year, which makes me just about as old as the video game medium itself. Sigh. I was at Break’s apartment a couple months ago, for something. (I’m not sure what- my whole Spring was a blur.) “Want to play the new Mortal Kombat?” he asked. “Uhh, okay,” I answered, not very enthusiastically. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I know the last ones sucked. But I promise you this one’s awesome!” I played it. And it was, indeed, really incredibly awesome. It was every bit as awesome, in…
I’d never before consulted a 4 year old for video game picks, but in our high-tech age this is something I should probably get used to. This has been the Summer of Suck for me, in terms of video games. I’m subletting an apartment that doesn’t have a TV, so my PS3 and Wii have been put away in storage in a duffel bag in my closet. I guess the positive from all this is it has forced me to look beyond consoles for my video gaming kicks. I was hanging out recently at the house of…
On July 5th (I guess they had to wait an extra day for all of us to sober up and pay attention), the usual mysterious network of informants released a new “leak” about the inevitable PS4. These sources (as always, dubious at best) reported that the PS4 will be released next year (!), and that the system will feature built-in full body motion control technology, a la Kinect. Normally, I’d dismiss these rumors as nothing more than the usual internet speculation and poppycock. This time, however, I think there’s a chance they might be true. Hit the…
Dearest Ladies and Germs, I confess this is less an article than a whole-hearted plug for you to get excited about a genuinely cool event that I think is going to have a positive impact on all of us. No, I’m not talking about the release of Larry Crowne. This is bigger, bolder and better than any movie about Tom Hanks on a scooter could ever be. Less than a year from now, the Smithsonian American Art Museum (!!) in Washington, DC will be hosting an exhibit called “The Art of Video Games”. You heard me right! You can now…
[This gets to gaming, but first, a story…] I was hanging out at my actor friend Josh’s place a couple months ago and we were planning on watching a DVD. He’d just gotten a new TV (well, used- but a primo one from a hotel…I believe him when he says he didn’t steal it) and he wanted to see it in action. Long story short, he ended up needing to enter some hotel locking code that he did not have, and the TV wouldn’t work. Trying to be helpful and salvage the situation,…
It’s with tremendous personal sadness that I say I will not be attending E3 this year. My good lady and I decided to hightail it to her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico for the summer, which precluded me from participating in The Big Show. I went to E3 in 2006 and 2010 and both times I had a fucking blast. Waaah waah, I wish I was going this year!! Especially since I have things that I, CptCluster, DEMAND to see at E3 for myself (which you can find more about…
I’m standing at a Paul Simon concert a few rows from the back, enjoying the best view of the performers I’ve been able to get all night. Some jackass right behind me, probably drunk, has been blabbing away the whole evening (“Wow!” he exclaims every time Paul Simon begins to sing another song, as if something unprecedented has just occurred. “Wow!!”), bothering me and going on and on about how he wishes he could get a better view, if not for the person (me) who’s standing in front of him. (Editor’s note: This does become relevant to games, I promise.…
Video games have a long, tragic history of being made into terrible movies- Street Fighter, anyone? Jake Gyllenhaal with an English accent in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time? So it’s with great trepidation that I follow reports of new video game film adaptations.
If you’re like me (and who wouldn’t want to be), you get annoyed when you’re blasting your way through Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer, and it suddenly lags, hardcore. “Connection interrupted”? “Host migration”?? You motherfuckers!! We didn’t pay honest American dollars for service like this. Well, our friends have Google have a plan to keep things more, err…regular. Today in a press conference they announced Google Fiber, a service that will offer 1-gigabyte fiber optic internet connection. It will initially be offered just as a free service to schools in the Kansas City, KS area in 2012, but I…
I just pre-ordered L.A. Noire for PS3. I simply cannot wait for the day it comes out (May 17). I have been following this game’s progress for almost four years now, through various stages of its development. I’d always thought it had promise, but in the last year of so I’ve become convinced that it could be one of the greatest games made yet. To help make my case a bit, let me back up here for a moment and talk about my favorite game of 2010: Heavy Rain.
From listening to dance music in the Nokia Theater (perfect for keeping me up at the wee hour of 7am) to milling about awkwardly outside once the show had closed, I spent a full twelve hours at E3 2010 today. I have to say though that the day felt like it lasted maybe 45 minutes, tops. It was that fun. I know it’s probably not that hard for anyone out there to believe me on that. I’m thoroughly spent (I woke up early and I could hardly sleep out of excitement last night anyway), but I’ll give you some of…