I view games as a viable form of art entertainment and expression and this blog presents them as such. I would love to see great games viewed through the same lense as great films or novels. I try to present my humble worthless opinions on how we can elevate them to that status both internaly and externaly.

But it's not all serious and there will be laughs

• 30Dec 06

  Happy New Year

  Well I think its safe to say that 2006 was a pretty darn good year for games. First we had two VERY exciting system launches. With all three major consoles released the next generation is now offically here!

  Gamewise it was also very good. My top three picks would have to be FF XII, Okami, and MGS Portable Ops. There were many others that would have plunged me into debt to have played them all.

  What's most exciting however is the prospects for 2007. Right in March we run into God of War II (the last great ps2 game), and later we have MGS 4, MGS4, and Halo 3. The PS3's and Wii audiences will no doubt grow. I'm getting excited already.

  Anyway I wish everyone a Happy New Year and a great 2007.

  • Posted Dec 30, 2006 5:12 am PT
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• 22Nov 06

  PS3 press coverage

  I was astonished by the sheer amount of press that the PS3 got. I don't know if it was general intrest or the sheer insanity of the launch but it was quite extensive. Hopefully this will open peoples eyes to the fact that games are THE entertainment medium of this generation and that the old sterotypes of the typical gamer are fading away. I really belive that this is a step in the right direction in terms of public perception.
  • Posted Nov 22, 2006 10:44 am PT
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• 19Oct 06

  Shadow of the Collossus rocks.

  Seriously of all of the truly awesome games released in 2005 (RE 5, God of War, DMC 3) I neglected to pick this up. Now that I recently did as a greatest hit. and I now regret not experiencing this true masterpiece earlier.  Not only is it a great game in its own right but it is also one of the shining example of how games can indeed provide an artistic and moving experience.

  First of all the game shatters videogame conventions by not throwing hordes of enemies at you as you progress from boss to boss leaving just you and your horse as you read across miles and miles of desolate yet beutifully rendered landscape. One would think that this would decrease the ominous tone but quite the oppisite is true. The isolation and allienation that you will feel is unparrelled in any game before it and that only adds further to the fact that you are in a forbiddin land.

  All of this is well and god but taking down the collossus is really where the meat of the game is. Fourtunatly however it is nothing short of a blast to take down these beasts. Almost all of them involve of course action but also puzzle and platform elements when you are strugguling desparatly to figure out how to take down these massive beasts. And massive they are. In fact I can almost gurantee that you have never faced a foe as big as these EVER!

  Last but definatly not least is the story. Anyone who knows me as a gamer knows that I love a game with a good story and Shadow is a no exception. What makes Shadow really stand out though is how unconventional the story is. Much of the story is very ambiguous. It begins with you bringing a dead woman to a shrine. Then these voices that you presume to be some kind of gods inform you that the only way that  bringing her life back "may not be impossible", is to slay the 16 massive beasts that roam the land. Your conviction to the woman is revealed when you start climbing up the fur  of these massive beasts while they flail about. You are but a bug to them and are trying to flick you off or simply stomp you. It is kind of like climbing Mount Everst and then killing it. Right when you start o get the mopst gung-ho about slaying the beasts and reviving the woman whom you feel so passionate for. Then it hits you, these beasts have done absolutly nothing wrong to you and were really only just minding their own buisness before you came in and coldy took their lives. This is only exaserbated by the somber music that plays when one of the beasts goes down. These cretures were truly one of a kind and you destroyed them for your own selfish intrests. What is more important the life of the truly wonderous collosi or the love of your life? All of this cumulates into simply one of the most beutiful game endings ever, on the level of MGS 3 in terms of sheer emotional impact.

  So please if you are sick of "urban" open world treckd or an endless proliferation of squad based third person shooters and are yearning to try something different please give this game a shot. It just may think of the way you think of video games and the artistic potential they hold.

  • Posted Oct 19, 2006 4:47 pm PT
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