I was recently introduced to Man Crates and tasked with writing a post about gaming nostalgia. What is Man Crates, you ask? Well, after checking out their site, I found that they sell some pretty cool gifts for dudes. In crates. That need to be opened with a good, old-fashioned crowbar. Think of it like a hardcore gift basket. Continue reading If You Could Package Nostalgia
Image by Flickr user: Codex41 (cc)
There’s something special about finding a video game secret isn’t there? Once you realize what it is you’ve found, it suddenly becomes special; a hidden gem most players passed by, completely unaware that it even existed. It starts something special to share with friends and the world at large, but also becomes fuel for many a hoax. After all, if one secret exists in a game, why not two? If the developer put a secret in one game, why not in another? And on it goes from there…
I’ve found a few good secrets in my games over the years, and I’ve been fooled by few hoaxes too. So in the spirit of April, here are the best secrets I managed to find on my own, plus the one hoax that had me absolutely convinced that it was real…well until reality set in that is. See if you can figure out which is the hoax!
Continue reading Six Secrets and A Hoax
The following post was submitted by GamerCrash. See more trailers and news at GamerCrash.com
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It’s Saturday which means it’s time for an all new edition of the Video Round Up, bringing you the best videos around the gaming web from the week that was. So kick those feet up, get comfortable, and crank that volume. Here’s a small sample of what awaits you below.
Arguably, the biggest news this week came from the Star Wars Celebration event as EA finally revealed the first trailer for the highly anticipated Star Wars Battlefront. The trailer shows off game engine footage and it looks stunningly good. From the particle effects to the colors, to the lighting, the Battle of Endor never looked so good.
A couple of interesting videos released this week detailing a few creative aspects to Grand Theft Auto V on PC and The Order 1886. With GTA V finally releasing on PC, Rockstar has created a pretty impressive video editor tool that players can use to craft gameplay clips, cool moments, or straight up elaborate trailers. Ready At Dawn also released the popular “Photo Mode” for their PS4 exclusive, The Order 1886. What’s interesting about this version is that you can actually play the game with your photo mode settings and effects kept on if you want. Certainly helps freshen up the experience during a new playthrough, right?
I’ve also got new videos for Titan Souls, Destiny, Guitar Hero Live and so much more after the break, so come check out this week’s batch of trailers!
The full list of videos await you after the jump…
This week saw the release of Mortal Kombat X, the latest title in that ubiquitous fighting saga that, if nothing else, well popularized the phrase “Get over here!” But this week also marks another Mortal Kombat milestone: the 20th anniversary of the release of Mortal Kombat 3 (MK3). On April 15, 1995, Midway Games released what was then the most highly polished game in this budding series. As is key with fighting game series, MK3 featured a much larger roster of fighters than previous games, and the graphics were pretty darn great, again compared to previous games. It was through MK3 that I became familiar with my all-time favorite fighter, Sindel. It was through MK3 that I actually completed my first fatality. (Having never properly learned any in Mortal Kombat or Mortal Kombat II.) It was through MK3 that I learned about how subtle a fighting game could be, as I had become quite used to mashing my way through a number of Street Fighter games. And it was probably through MK3 that I finally became a fan of the series. But…
Continue reading A Blissful Pursuit: My Relationship Fighting Games
Image captured by Rob
As I delve further in to game design, I find that they way I approach a game is beginning to shift. The common idea that I’ve heard bandied about is that ‘the magic disappears’ once you know how to make games. This statement is true, but also barely scratches the surface. Yes, that starry-eyed wonder and easy engrossment may fade somewhat, but it doesn’t simply leave a hole in your experience. Instead, it is replaced by a deeper understanding and appreciation for well crafted mechanics, narratives and experiences. It becomes less of “Look how awesome this game is!” and more of “Look how well the designer pulled this off!” This is what can be referred to as Playing Like a Designer – the act of seeing how the disparate game elements function and work together – to see the Man Behind the Curtain. With this column, I hope to take you for a bit of a trip behind that curtain, and talk in detail about the nuts and bolts behind some of my favorite games.
So with that, let’s get started! Let’s take a look at how Klei Entertainment crafted a top-notch stealth system for Mark of the Ninja.
– – – – Continue reading Playing Like a Designer – Stealth in Mark of the Ninja
This month’s community challenge is a most fitting one for the month that is home to April Fools, revolving around the many secrets found in video games, from the ridiculous to the outright fake. I have encountered a good number of these secrets and have managed to unlock many of them, to feelings of great glee all around, while on the other end of the spectrum, I have experienced frustration and befuddlement as I attempted to unlock a secret I later found was all false. I’m sure we’ve all had this happen to us, so I decided to create a little quiz to see how good you are at distinguishing between hoaxes and the real thing. Whether or not you’ve heard of the game or the secret involved, try and guess which ones sound legitimate and which are merely pranks designed to trick the gullible gamer (myself included). Continue reading Gaming Secrets and Hoaxes: Can You Tell the Difference?
All images gathered from the official Hunger press kit
Back in February we got a brief glimpse of Hunger, the newest project from Tarsier Studios. Most gamers probably know Tarsier Studios as the developer behind the PS Vita version of Little Big Planet, but that might just change once they get the opportunity to release Hunger to the masses. Hunger is described as a suspense-adventure game that chronicles the journey of a young girl known only as “Six” as she attempts to escape from the strange (and occasionally nightmarish) world of “The Maw”. The game is still in early in development so details are scarce, but we felt that it wasn’t too early to learn more about what kind of game Tarsier is trying to make with Hunger. It turned out that I wasn’t the only one who thought that way.
