Tag Archives: portal

INFRA: You Have To Keep It Together!

Image supplied by Loiste Interactive (Note: Pictured work is still in production.)

At PAX Prime 2013 I met a man whom I initially recognized as Booker DeWitt from BioShock. I didn’t think much of it beyond the costume being pretty cool, that is until they introduced themselves. It so happened that I had met Luke Smithers, a member of a small development studio called Loiste Interactive, as he was promoting their upcoming game: INFRA. In that initial meeting and subsequent visits to the game’s sight, I learned that the game was going to be what they call a “gun-free exploration game”, with an emphasis on environmental/observational puzzles. Continue reading INFRA: You Have To Keep It Together!

The Duck Discusses the Wii, 360, and PS3 Generation: Part 2-360 Boxes

Image by Flickr User: ChipperMist
Image by Flickr User: ChipperMist

Not long ago, I published a post discussing what I like and dislike about the Wii, and seeing as the next console of this particular generation that I bought was the XBox 360, it makes sense for Microsoft’s console to be the subject of the second post in this series.  It’s a funny thing, though, how I got this console in the first place, because I am more of a PlayStation fan than an XBox fan, so it would stand to reason that I would have been much more inclined to purchase a console made by Sony over one made by Microsoft.  Unfortunately, at the time, the PS3 was much too expensive, and it didn’t have any games I really cared for yet that weren’t already on the 360 (this was obviously before I became a “Ratchet and Clank” fan…).  Since the games I wanted at that time were all on the 360, plus that console would also allow me to play any new “Halo” games, this became the next console I added to my gaming family.

And when I first started playing the 360, I was immediately impressed with the graphics, which were way ahead of the Wii, and even though the first two games I played were not as good as I was expecting (“Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts” and “Sonic the Hedgehog”, the 2006 version, shudder, gag, shiver), I did have a good time playing “Halo 3” (even though it was short) and “Final Fantasy XIII” (despite its flaws), the latter of which came with my console.  (I even got this little waste of time thing on one end of the console that says “Final Fantasy XIII” on it.  Jealous?)  Plus, I was just pretty thrilled that this new XBox had “Final Fantasy” games as part of its library now, as during the last generation, only the PS2 had such an honor.  My game collection was further improved with the addition of “Halo: Reach” and “Halo 4”, which were awesome, and I even had the pleasure of expanding my game library with over 40 Sega Genesis games on “Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection”.  In the end, I ended up really enjoying my 360, and I loved it way more than the original XBox.  And now, anymore of my thoughts on this console will be listed below.  (As usual, my main focus is on gaming, not the other features the 360 has to offer, and extra info was found on Wikipedia.) Continue reading The Duck Discusses the Wii, 360, and PS3 Generation: Part 2-360 Boxes

Unforgettable: Still Alive and Want You Gone

Screenshot by Flickr User: PlayStation.Blog
Screenshot by Flickr User: PlayStation.Blog

Most of the time, when attempting to think of a part of a game that really stuck with you, very few would cite the ending credits as something that stood out to them, wouldn’t you agree?  Because, in all honesty, most ending credits are downright boring.  Sometimes they give us videos to watch during them, either some events that come after the game or a recap of things that already happened.  Sometimes they have some epic music.  But nevertheless, credits are always the most boring part of a game and are one part that we would all much rather skip than have to sit through.  Like tutorials.  They’re boring, too.

And then there are the rare occasions when the credits are not so boring.  When you might, gasp, actually want to watch them.  Wait a minute, Duck, when on Earth does such a phenomenon ever actually occur, you say?  This is nonsense and poppycock!  Well, there are a few occasions where this is true, and that is when those credits just happen to be at the end of two games, “Portal” and “Portal 2”. Continue reading Unforgettable: Still Alive and Want You Gone