As much as an Iron Fanboy that I am, the voice acting in the Iron Man 2 Videogame trailer is so horrendous that I barely made it through. I’m am the least snobbish person I know about voice acting, but Tony Stark sounds like a high school nerd attempting a Robert Downey Jr. impersonation. As a bonus, the dialogue was obnoxious.
Archives for May 2010
I’ll Have a Mac Steamed, Please
I just installed the Mac client for Steam and now I own 20+ games on my Mac–just like that. Torchlight, Portal, Civ IV, Braid, a bunch of other indie titles. The list just goes on and on.
Torchlight on Mac? Tomorrow!
Kotaku is reporting that the Steam client for Mac computers comes out tomorrow. If you already own Portal and Torchlight on the PC, you may already own it on the Mac.
If you bought Portal or Torchlight via Steam on your Windows-based PC then you may in fact already be the proud owner of tomorrow’s releases. Portal (and possibly Torchlight — the press release is unclear) will support a feature called Steam Play, which, according to a press release from Valve today, “allows customers to purchase a game once and play it on all Steam supported platforms. Gamers who have previously purchased games on Steam will find them available in their account on the Mac as they are released.”
I think this is AWESOME because these games should run fine on my MacBook. I can now play Torchlight on any computer I own.
Wait. That may be a bad thing.
Video Game Power Rankings #2
I’ve decided to move the VGPRs to Monday to give me a chance to digest the week’s news over the weekend and work on the post during that time as well. So here is week #2’s Video Game Power Rankings (number in parentheses is the previous week’s ranking)
1 (1) Halo Reach – Halo Reach Beta is in full swing. I’ve got it, I’ve played it, and for the most part I like it. It’s amazing to me the sheer numbers of idiotic Halo players that already permeate the Beta, but it’s only going to get worse, as the beta opens to Silver Xbox Live members this week. Great. At least we got the Invasion game mode, which is quite fun to play.
2 (9) Bungie/Activision – This story broke just as the first Power Rankings was being put together, so it was left off the list (but added later by Nat). This just barely loses to Halo Reach for hopefully obvious reasons. The ten year agreement will let Bungie “bring [their] next gaming universe and IP to the largest possible audience.” Not sure what Activision brings that Bungie couldn’t do on their own (besides possibly the PS3 audience) but it will be interesting to see if Bungie is serious about new IP or not. I, for one, will give them the benefit of the doubt. They’ve earned that much.
3 (-) Fallout New Vegas – For a game that isn’t coming out for a little while, Fallout New Vegas sure got a lot of press last week. Joystiq has a preview, highlighting such things as a new VATS that includes melee attacks which warms my cold, dead, post-apocalyptic heart.
4 (8) Infinity Ward/Activision – This was another item I left off the list last week but include now because the shock waves of this announcement are still being felt.
5 (-) Guild Wars 2 – I include Guild Wars 2 here at #5 out of respect for the original and for the brief burst of Guild Wars activity I saw on Twitter last week. I can’t believe how long and strong GW has survived. Even though it’s been years since I last played, I have a small place in my heart for the original non-MMO MMO.
6 (-) Alpha Protocol – Alpha Protocol is coming out soon and the marketing machine is starting to ramp up. Videos galore abound.
7 (2) Ebert and games as art – This one lost a little steam over the past week, but I had to keep it in the rankings just so I could link this post, which has the most definitive wrap-up of blogger response to the Ebert dust-up out there.
8 (-) Alan Wake – The game isn’t out yet, but that doesn’t mean the plans for “DLC” can’t be (rightly) criticized.
9 (-) Frozen Synapse – I don’t remember where I heard about Frozen Synapse first, it could have been a podcast (probably the GWJCC) but it seemed like all of a sudden a whole lot of people were talking about the game. I quickly realized this game is certainly not in my particular wheelhouse but it is going to be popular nonetheless.
10 (-) The New New Super Mario – The Power Rankings for the Week That Was wouldn’t be complete without the mention of FotB Zack’s “If Mario Was Designed in 2010” going viral.
Honorable Mention: The new Steam Client will be available for Mac this week and E3 is just around the corner.
In My (Digital) Hands
I know the Beta started Monday, but between kid duty on Monday nights and Lost on Tuesdays, this was the first chance I’ve had to download the Halo Reach Beta. I’ll be diving in as soon as I hit Publish.
Games as art
I’ve always liked the quote, “I don’t know if it’s art, but I like it!” One of the biggest issues I have with the whole “Games as Art” debate is that in 10 years no one will even care.
Alright, I know that is a helluva statement to make, but let me clarify it. How many children do you know don’t play videogames? Let’s take that a step up, how many teenagers? How many twenty-somethings? Depending on who your general social crowd is, I’ll bet you don’t hit a significant group of non-videogame participants that you know until the 30’s or maybe even 40’s. Even then, they may not be in the majority.
Ta da! Videogames are mainstream. Notice the almost overnight irrelevance of Jack Thompson. Sure, we have the occasional obnoxious legislator trying to pass some bill or another, but it almost always passes in and out of the news. Some random news commentator desperate for attention may ride out the tired trope of evil videogames and protecting children, but it’s about as original as writing an article on Rock ‘N Roll and the decadent influence it has on youth.
The entire concept of what is and what isn’t “art” is fairly nebulous, but if you care about a videogame being “art” you have little to worry about. Anything that is mainstream eventually produces dedicated artistic endeavors. There are numerous games (Which I am intentionally not going to name. Can you guess why?) that are already considered “art” by the videogame community. Outside of the videogame community why would anyone care? The rantings of Ebert on the art-worthiness of videogames are about as relevant as a dog’s opinion of a squirrel. A passing distraction that causes a lot of commotion and barking but will never get.
As for me, I could care less. I don’t worry about how artistic a game is before I play. I am here to be entertained. This is not a different standard. Movies, books, and music are all things I enjoy but I feel no need to support anything for reasons beyond my personal interest. My personal opinion is that videogames are entirely better off without adding some artificial layer of snobbish elitism to them somewhere. Do we not already bemoan innovative games that don’t sell to big budget titles? Doesn’t that sound like the stereotypical struggle of the artistic endeavor already?
May Releases
Yay, it’s the monthly releases, yay! May has a very solid group of offerings. Never mind the Halo Reach Beta, let’s get to some actual real life games:
Week of May 3rd
Iron Man 2
Autobahn Polizei – As these two releases show, it’s a fool’s game to go up against a Halo game, even if it is in beta.
Week of May 10th
Lost Planet 2
Skate 3
Week of May 17th
Shrek Forever After
Red Dead Redemption – May certainly wasn’t looking promising until this came along. I know Nat is interested in Red Dead Redemption and after seeing the multiplayer video he posted, I have to admit I’m intrigued as well.
Alan Wake– On the other hand, Alan Wake has been getting a lot of buzz and may be a strong contender for a pick-up this month.
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands– Another strong franchise just in time for the movie later this summer.
Split / Second– Quite a strong week for the 360.
Week of May 24th
Blur– I think a lot of Blur will be getting played around these parts.
UFC Undisputed 2010
Week of May 3rd
Reader Rabbit Kindergarten– The kids love Reader Rabbit games on the computer, I’m surprised it’s taken this long to get one on the Wii. (At least this is the first time I’ve seen them on the Wii)
Iron Man 2
Week of May 10th
Winter Sports 3– Not a whole lot of games for the Wii this week, but if you’re interested in new peripherals, this is your week, especially if you’re in the market for gold Wii accessories.
Week of May 17th
Boot Camp Academy
Trauma Team
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Week of May 24th
Super Mario Galaxy 2– Yes, day one purchase here for me. I can never get enough Super Mario Galaxy.
Trackmania
Week of May 3rd
Iron Man 2
Picross 3D
Dementium II– Seems like this game has been on the new releases list for the last few months. Will it ever come out?
Week of May 10th
Monster Racer
Week of May 17th
Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Color Cross
Week of May 24th
Trackmania
Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force 2
Dawn of Heroes
Week of May 3rd
Burger Island Combo– Kokomo may be the place you want to go, but I’d rather be on Burger Island.
Out of the Park Baseball 11 Deluxe
Week of May 10th
House
Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer
Week of May 17th
Becky Brogan: The Mystery of Meane Manor
Split / Second
Week of May 24th
Blur
Making History 2: War of the World
Week of May 3rd
Iron Man 2
Week of May 10th
Quantum Theory– Going off the box-art, that looks nothing like the Quantum Theory I learned about.
3D Dot Game Heroes– Been hearing a lot of buzz for this game. I would imagine this will be right in Brock’s wheelhouse.
Lost Planet 2
Skate 3
Super Bike World Championships SBK– The PS3 didn’t want to get left out of the fun this May. This is a pretty solid week.
Week of May 17th
Split / Second
Red Dead Redemption
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Week of May 24th
Blur
ModNation Racers
UFC Undisputed 2010
Week of May 3rd
Iron Man 2
Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake
What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2– This is a sequel? I guess the Lord was unclear with his answer in the original.
Week of May 10th
Naruto Shipuden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
Week of May 17th
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Week of May 24th
ModNation Racers
Hexyz Force
What are you picking up?
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