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Blog Herding: Editor And Reader Picks 07/29
Each week we highlight both editor and reader blogs worth your undivided attention. We skipped last week for Comic-Con so now we're back with an extra large post. Shout out to the GIO community! Great blogs these past two weeks!
Most Gamers Don't Want Change, No Matter How Much They May Say It
"Recently,
I feel that I've been reading more and more that people think the
gaming industry is running itself into a rut. That we're just getting
the same types of games; shooter after shooter, open world game after
open world game...We're killing the chances at making something
original and different for more and more of the same. The fix for this
would be simple, no? Just try and create more and more original games
and eventually people will move on, right? Well, it really isn't that
simple." Do you agree with Hawk_hotlips?
Five Reasons To Read Mass Effect Retribution
Who reads? Joe does. "I like playing video games and reading books, but I only do one of those things professionally. I'm not qualified to assess Drew Karpyshyn's Mass Effect: Redemption (in stores now) in terms of literary merit. However, from a gamer's perspective, I can give you five reasons why the book is definitely worth reading if, like me, you're a fan of the Mass Effect series." Check out his five reasons in this post.
Responding To Gamer Gorilla Radio... Again!
Warbuff gets heated up over the topics discussed during our latest episode of Gamer Gorilla Radio and puts in his two cents in this blog post. Want a chance to chime in on the topics discussed during the podcast? Check out Warbuff's post and debate it out in the comments section.
Sports Gamers FTW
If you haven't already noticed, Kato and Bertz run the sports side of our games coverage here at GI. In this post Kato says haters need to cut sports gamers some slack. "Some people put down sports gamers under the assumption that we're somehow not legitimate gamers. That's ***. I don't get where this comes from. Are these not games with goals, buttons, actions, rewards, and challenges? Like some alternate universe where the geeks are trying to exact their revenge on the jocks from high school, some gamers loves to crap on people who play sports games." All sports gamers and sports haters should give this post a read. You might learn something. Duke it out in the comments section.
Looking For A Comeback — The Rise And Fall Of Sports Gaming
To continue with the sports theme, Rob Ebert put together a great post explaining how he wishes sports games would take bigger leaps in improvement with each iteration. "Maybe it was the ridiculous passing cone introduced in Madden '06, or the way they kept including Good Charlotte songs on the soundtrack, but for whatever reason, each new sports game no longer represented a giant leap forever, but merely a step sideways, and in some cases, backwards." Though he does admit that in some cases there have been some small displays of progress. Here's a post fans of sports games should definitely check out.
So I Finished Final Fantasy XIII...
Finally!
Phil is next to finish the latest entry in the Final Fantasy series.
Admittedly, I have yet to finish it, but I'll save my reasoning for a
separate blog post. What took Phil so long? "Aside from the boring MMO
that was Final Fantasy XI, FF XIII is easily the most fascinating
anomaly in the main series to me. It is at once the most unique and
singular but also the biggest exercise in frustration that has ever
carried the Final Fantasy name." Read on for details of his experience.
MotionScan Will Change Video Games, 3D And Motion Controls Will Not
"Are motion controls and 3D really the vehicles that will carry video games into the next generation? Honestly, I don’t think so. While motion controls and 3D are great avenues to explore, I don’t believe that they will transform the gaming world like many developers would like us to believe they will." So what will change the video game landscape? MotionScan, you know, that facial recognition tech used in Rockstar's upcoming L.A. Noire. Read Michael Johnson's post for more on the tech and how it can change gaming.
San Diego Comic-Con 2010 Photos
DTJAAAAM seems to have been at all the big cons this year, and this time around he's put together several of his famous photo blogs featuring sightings from the convention center on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
When Video Game Characters Retire
Saint takes characters from popular franchises in this hilarious post that matches up their skills to what they should do after retiring from their epic adventures.
Have you produced or read a blog post on gameinformer.com that you think should be considered for upcoming installments of Blog Herding? Send over an e-mail with a link to annette@gameinformer.com. I also accept bribes.
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