JC | Mouse Smash

November 21, 2014
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Women in Gaming: an evening with Halo: Nightfall

Last Thursday, at the Big Picture in downtown Seattle, I found out about the male-dominated history of the community for women in the videogame industry.

L-R: Jessica Shea, Marta Beck, Holly Barbacovi and Kiki Wolfkill, all of 343 industries. Image courtesy of Jason Pankow.

Bonnie Ross, CVP of 343 Industries, recounted how she and several other women organized a cocktail event at the annual Game Developers Conference as a networking opportunity for women in 2001. Considering that women only make up around 5-20% of their fields, and that on average they earned 86 cents on every dollar that men made in the US game industry, it was crucial for women to have an opportunity to meet others within their profession.

However, more men than women turned up to the event. Continue reading →

November 17, 2014
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Review: Randal’s Monday

Crammed with geek culture references, Randal’s Monday shows potential as a point-and-click adventure game, but fails to deliver an engaging or innovative experience. You play Randal, who, after stealing his best friend’s engagement ring, awakens to discover that the ring is cursed and his friend is dead. Randal is forced to live that Monday repeatedly, Groundhog Day-style, until he sets everything right. Continue reading →

November 14, 2014
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Error 404: Ethics in Journalism issue arises; Gamergaters not found

I’m not sure if this article should start with something like YOU DON’T SAY.

Prior to the launch of Assasin’s Creed Unity, Ubisoft made reviewers agree to an embargo time set 12 hours after the game went on sale on the east coast of the US. An embargo is an agreement between the press and the publisher about when coverage for the game can be released to the public. What this means is that, in theory, reviews can’t be published before the agreed time, which is usually prior to the game’s release, so players can see if they want to buy the game.

By setting the embargo time to AFTER the game was released, consumers didn’t have any information about the game’s quality before they dropped their cash on it. It also doesn’t help that the game is incredibly buggy. According to this BBC News article, players have been posting screenshots online of characters missing parts of their faces, hanging onto invisible ledges, and bending to QWOP-like proportions.

Continue reading →

November 12, 2014
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Review: Papers, Please

Glory indeed.

Papers, Please occupies that uncomfortable space where your moral convictions affect your gameplay. Despite being a bureaucracy sim, it has engaging mechanics, a cracking pace and a tragic and revealing narrative.

Set in 1982, you play an immigration inspector in Arstotzka, a fictional, Soviet-like country. As would-be immigrants step up to your booth, you cross-reference their documents with your rulebook to ensure their papers are in order. If they are, you stamp their passport and return it. If not, you can deny their entry, or detain them for suspicious behavior. Continue reading →

November 11, 2014
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Assassin’s Creed Unity lets you spend up to $99.99 to boost your character; internet gets mad

Assassin’s Creed Unity will have an alternate in-game currency which you can buy with real-world money.

Along with the standard currency used by the characters, you can buy “Helix Credits”, presumably with your credit card. Helix Credits will allow you to access boosts or unlock certain customizations (that you’d otherwise have to save up for with your ingame money), or reveal hidden stuff on the map without having to go to a viewpoint. So, for at least some features, you’re paying for convenience.

However, you can also buy boosts which enhance your abilities for a short while or upgrade existing weapons by “hacking” them, for considerable benefits:

Continue reading →

November 6, 2014
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Iron Sky: The Coming Race trailer

What’s better (or worse) than Nazis on the moon?

How about Nazis riding dinosaurs at the center of the Earth?

Maybe zombie Nazis riding dinosaurs?

Yep. The team that brought you Iron Sky in 2012 are launched a new crowdfunding campaign today to make a sequel, which is available on Indiegogo.There are a variety of tiers of contribution, with $10,000 buying you the title of Associate Producer. Continue reading →

November 4, 2014
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Play 900+ free old-school games in your browser!

Old school gamers! This one is for you. Remember those games that required a ton of quarters (or tokens, if you were at one of those pizza places)? I think later, some of these were on Commodore 56 as well. But if you’re hankering for some old school nostalgia, hanker no more.

Behold, the Internet Arcade.

Jason Scott and JavaScript Mess have created a repository of many of our favorites by porting them into a playable online version. With over 900 (yes, NINE HUNDRED) games to pick from, it’s not hard to find some old favorites (hello Frogger, Bomb Jack, Pac Man!) and maybe discover some new ones you missed the first time around. Continue reading →

October 30, 2014
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Review: Falling Skies: The Game

The skies are falling so I’d better point my gun upwards.

Generally, video game spinoffs of TV shows are not very good. Falling Skies is no exception. Falling Skies: The Game is a turn-based tactical shooter where you command members of the 2^nd Mass in their fight against Espheni aliens across a grid-based map. In between missions, you also manage resources, train your soldiers and upgrade their weapons.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because this game is essentially a watered-down clone of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, with cheaper-looking graphics and shoddy animation. Frustrating camera angles also make it difficult to do simple tasks such as taking cover, so your minions are left standing next to cover and get attacked. Additionally, the voice acting is laughably bad: when attacked by enemies, one soldier astutely exclaims “Ow! That hurts!” in surprise. Next, he’ll be telling me that fire is hot. Continue reading →

October 27, 2014
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This book should be required reading before you respond to someone on the internet

Ad hominem

I’m going to try very hard to keep this general, but it should be almost immediately obvious how this relates to a very current and heated shitshow going on in the gaming world.

As a philosopher, it really makes me cringe when I see ~~arguments~~ comments like the following: “some particular person is not a real gamer. She is a horrible stupidhead and shouldn’t be saying anything about video games.”

Common sense would tell you that that’s just false. The fact that someone isn’t knowledgeable about a topic doesn’t mean they ought not to talk about it. Sure, they probably shouldn’t talk as if they are an authority on the issue, but that’s different. Interpreting this charitably, for instance, it might be that someone is trying to learn about a topic, and they can’t learn about it without talking about it. Think, for example, about how hard it would be to understand quantum mechanics if you couldn’t discuss quantum mechanics. Continue reading →

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