Gamebeast23456 Blog

Hey GIO! Let's Play Neptune's Pride 2!

Light Gamebeast23456 — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:37:00 GMT

A few weeks ago I was listening to the Idle Thumbs podcast and they talked about this interesting browser-based strategy game Neptune's Pride 2. I have been looking for a fun, accessible game for the community here to play (I haven't been on the site for awhile, and I would like to play a game with y'all.)You can read about the game here: http://triton.ironhelmet.com/#landing I want to do this game because you can literally play it anywhere with an Internet browser (it's all HTML5) and I think it would be fun.If you are interested in playing, here's what you do:

1. Make an Account Making an account is easy and free, you just have to have a Google account. Don't make your username the same as it is on GI or anywhere else. From what I've read (I actually haven't played a game myself) part of the fun comes from anonymity and being very selective about releasing information.

2. Leave A Comment Once you've made an account, leave a comment at this blog saying you are interested in playing (we can have a maximum of eight players, so it's first come first serve.)

3. Wait Until WednesdayThis Wednesday at 7:10 AM Central Time I'll be launching a game. Before I mentioned you really need to comment if you are interested, the reason for this is simple: I need to know how big of a game to set up. There is a limit of eight players, but I need to know so we can move quickly. Like I said before, I haven't played the game before. It'll be a learning experience for all of us; I also think it will be a lot of fun.

Based off the little I know of the game, I just need to lay out the ground rules. These rules are more appropriately titled suggestions, though

.1. Keep Your Name Close To Your ChestThere is a messaging system in the game, and from what I have read diplomacy is part of the game. However, just for fun I'm going to request you not divulge your name willy-nilly. Use your own discretion

.2. Try To Keep It PG-13While this game's demographic isn't really people not used to salty language, I still would prefer no one get offended or anything.

3. Be Ready To Keep PlayingThis game could take a number of weeks, it's unpredictable. If you want to play, make sure you are committed. Luckily for us this game is made for convenience. If you have an internet connection and a competent browser, you should probably be able to keep up (from what I know the game is lengthy but not time-intensive).I hope to see everyone playing!

Armchair Gamer Podcast Season Three Episode One "Team Ico Show"

Light Gamebeast23456 — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 00:02:00 GMT

Happy late New Year listeners! Welcome to a new season of the Armchair Gamer Podcast. The first episode of season three is mainly a discussion of Team Ico's Ico and Shadow of The Colossus. I'm joined in this discussion by Cody Bauman. We talk about both games and how they relate to each other. Also, I briefly eulogize THQ. Warning: We will rather nonchalantly spoil both games!

Listen To The Show:

This link is better for streaming: http://theamrchairgamer.podomatic.com/

I'd recommend downloading it here: http://archive.org/details/ArmchairGamerPodcastSeasonThreeEpisodeOneteamIcoShow_757

You can download/listen to old episodes here: http://archive.org/details/TheArmchairGamerPodcast

The Stars:

Braden Fox (the host) follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Gamebeast23456

Cody Bauman (the guest) is on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/THEcodybauman

The Music:

At the top of the show I played a track from Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates.

The second track in the introduction is "The Makers Theme" from Darksiders 2 (the soundtrack is composed by Jesper Kyd) the soundtrack is available on Amazon here:http://tinyurl.com/aoowu3g

The Theme Song (as always) is The Advantages cover of "The Moon" from Ducktales.

Two tracks from the ICO- Melody in the Mist soundtrack are used ("You Were There" and "Heal") this soundtrack comes from Michiru Oshina. It is available on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Ico-Melody-Mist-Michiru-Oshima/dp/B00005V4GL/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1360364049&sr=1-1&keywords=ico+soundtrack

Two tracks from the Shadow of The Colossus Official Soundtrack are used ("Prologue-To The Ancient Land" and "The Opened Way- Battle with the Colossus") The composer is Kow Otani.

Helpful Links:

If you own a PS3 and have not played ICO or Shadow of The Colossus you should drop a little cash for the HD collection (available on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/ICO-Shadow-Colossus-Collection-Playstation-3/dp/B002I0J5FG/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1360364552&sr=1-1&keywords=ico+and+the+shadow+of+the+colossus+ps3)

Finally, the interview with Fumito Ueda I mentioned in the show is on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LPLF0sMRjg

Curiosity: Where idiocy, genius, and opacity converge (and why it's bewildering)

Light Gamebeast23456 — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:04:00 GMT

Originally posted on Thearmchairnerd.blogspot.com

If I had to describe Curiosity, I would say it is a deconstruction of why we play games that has no real point and may or may not be intentional.

Curiosity- What's Inside The Cube? tasks players with tapping a gigantic cube. Yes, that's the game. Players all around the world are tapping away at tiny tiles on a gigantic cube. The idea is that slowly but surely players will whittle away at the cube until they have shed all the layers, a process that may take an ungodly amount of time-especially with the servers being such a bad state. One person will then receive a link to a video that shows them what's inside the cube. There are very few gameplay "hooks" in Curiosity; vaguely satisfying sound effects are tied to the shattering. I can't think of a way that the game could be described as interesting on its own merit without the help of curiosity and collectivist altruism. In some ways, Curiosity is the most pure game I've played. All unnecessary personality and gameplay hooks are stripped out and as a result the game oozes sterility. The color palette is bland, the background is white and empty, and the sound design is maddeningly boring and monotonous. The entire game revolves around tapping at cubes for what we can only assume will be an incredibly long time.

In some ways, it may be a bit of a comment on the fallacies present in an interactive medium, and an explanation of how video games as a specific artistic medium are just as pointless as any other from a non-human perspective. Some might call the game a parody of games; Ian Bogost has an interesting quote that is relevant here:

"Satire and earnestness are very close cousins. Maybe they are identical, or even weirder, maybe satire is even more earnest than genuineness. A philosopher friend of mine named Graham Harman has suggested that things never really encounter the true, real versions of other things. Instead they translate, distort, or caricature one another. And if every interaction between anything whatsoever really amounts to a caricature, then maybe it's best to own up to that fact and stop pretending that anything is more than a travesty of its intended subject."

Curiosity agitates me because I can't understand the intentions of the creators. There is no authorial preference when it comes to interpretation; Molyneux has been maddeningly cagey about what the "experiment" really is. It's almost like I'm reading into the game as a sort of justification for the hour or so I spent in the game and the amount of time I spent thinking about it. It almost reminds me of old NES games that we would play constantly regardless of quality because it was all we had and how we would make the most of it- often ascribing quality to games that didn't deserve it.

Announcing To GIO: VGM Hit-A-Day

Light Gamebeast23456 — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 23:09:00 GMT

I'm not one to use my status to promote something unless I have the utmost faith in what I'm promoting. I have the utmost faith in what I'm promoting.

I have a great love of video game music. I've slogged through many-a-game simply to hear a good soundtrack, oblivious to something called the internet. I find myself digging through video game music databases almost daily, and I almost always have Audio Overload open on my computer. I love chip tunes and modern gaming music.

In the past, I've tried my hand at broadcasting my love of this music. I did a short-lived livestream called "The Video Game Music Hour"; I discontinued the show when I realized there were too many technical problems I couldn't address. After I gave up this show idea, I thought a lot about how I could share great music with the world continually.

Eventually, I came up with my newest blog: VGM Hit-A-Day. In this blog, I post a link to a great piece of video game music every day (usually through Youtube Videos or MP3's I harvested myself and posted online). Right now, the blog is just wrapping up it's second week (the topic is Unreleased Games).

If you like video game music and know others that also do, please share the blog. I want to get the word out there.

Thanks for your time.

Arguing some semantics

Light Gamebeast23456 — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:59:00 GMT

fun/fən/

Adjective: Amusing, entertaining, or enjoyable: "it was a fun evening".

Halo 4's Gamestop.com Product Description

The Master Chief returns to battle an ancient evil bent on vengeance and annihilation. Shipwrecked on a mysterious world, faced with new enemies and deadly technology, the universe will never be the same. Enlist aboard the UNSC Infinity to experience Halo's original multiplayer and Spartan Ops - episodic fiction-based co-op missions.

Key Features

The Reclaimer Saga Begins: Experience the dawn of an epic new Halo adventure, solo or split screen with up to three friends
Go Beyond the Story: Halo 4's Infinity Multiplayer features a vastly expanded suite of multiplayer modes, weapons, vehicles, armor abilities, a new loadout and Spartan IV player progression system.
Spartan Ops: Extend your campaign experience in a massive-scale adventure that builds upon the "Halo 4" Campaign. Receive a weekly series of cinematic episodes on Xbox LIVE followed by new game play missions, played solo or cooperatively with up to three friends - effectively delivering two campaign experiences in one game!***
War Games: Battle the competition in fresh, immersive new game modes and strategies.
Track your groups, stats and scores on HaloWaypoint.com
Edge-of-your-seat Entertainment: Immerse yourself in Halo 4's graphics, sound and epic game play including a mysterious and deadly new class of enemies**

Occasionally, I have to wonder if our game writer's lexicon is gleamed from product descriptions online. I can't help but cringe every time I hear a critic un-ironically say the word "immersive" or "epic" (luckily these terms have finally left our collective vocabulary as writers, apparently content at their place on the back of a box). This is an industry built upon press releases, of course, but I still feel like people like to box in games and their potential to very simple words and meaningless descriptions. For example, I hate it when people say "video games need to be fun". (Warning: The following blog is going to essentially be me nit-picking about things you might find unimportant.)

What is fun, exactly? Well, "fun" is a word that means different things to different people, and it means nothing at all. When we are talking about games, we seem to be fans of calling everything fun; Resident Evil 2- it's fun, Call of Duty- it's fun, Super Mario Galaxy- it's fun. In reality, though, the reasons we play these games aren't to experience some nebulous thing called "fun". Resident Evil 2 is a game you play to be afraid and helpless, or to experience an interesting world through a unique scope. Call of Duty is a game you play to A) experience a single-player experience (as I do) or B) play with others, or a combination thereof. Perhaps the only comparison between both games is that you shoot things. You might play Super Mario Galaxy to explore a world, be challenged with platforming, listen to music- a variety of reasons. But do you really play all three of these games simply "to have fun"? Do these games really live or die by their ability to be "fun"?

I am not one of those weird pseudo-intellectual people who say "all language is ultimately meaningless, man". Language does most certainly have a meaning; all of society is built upon the essentials of language and interpersonal communication. This belief, that language is extremely important- and precise language is doubly so, informs how I discuss art and products. Our reasons for being drawn to pieces of art or products are not simple enough to be described in one word.

Currently, I'm playing Bastion on a borrowed iPad. Bastion is an enjoyable game; I find myself enamored with it and I kind of want to play it right now. But is it "fun"? Maybe I could describe it that way. But if I wanted to make you interested in the game, the only way I could would be by explaining what interests or entertains me. Here's an example: "Bastion has a large amount of interesting ideas that I enjoy exploring. First of all, the combat in the game is very rewarding, the sound effects associated with using the weapons (especially the dueling pistols) and the sound effects associated with fighting enemies train a part of your brain to want to keep playing- and by extension- fighting. I also think the art style of Bastion is clever; I am a big fan of the concept of a beautiful post-apocalypse, that's why I'm drawn to shows like Adventure Time. The game is extremely eye-catching, all the colors are vibrant and even the littlest details like the color and texture of tiles you walk across is always different and unique." Could I say "Bastion is fun"? Yes. But it's more than fun.

Finally, I dislike the notion some people have that games "need to be fun" for a similar reason. Saying that a game needs to have a component as nebulous as fun A) devalues different artistic visions and B) gives off the impression that games are essentially toys, made for the enjoyment of kids and weird adults stuck in childhood. I'm tired of games like Journey for being slammed- not because of anything meaningful about what the game is- but because it isn't "fun", like action games, stealth games, or sports games. And, as I said earlier, the buzzword "fun" is about as concise and meaningful as "epic" or "engrossing" or "visceral"; it gives the impression of depth with no further explanation.

(Originally posted on Thearmchairnerd.blogspot.com)

The nomadic games journalist interview

Light Gamebeast23456 — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:25:00 GMT

This article was originally posted on http://thearmchairnerd.blogspot.com/

There is a certain mystique to the role of the nomad. Many of us, at one time or another, consider the possibilities of a life free of the baggage that comes from living in one place. Sometimes, we would like nothing more than to cast aside bills, work, or school and live a life of constant motion. This romantic idea is only perpetuated in Western society further by the influences of Bob Dylan, Jack Kerouac, and others of their ilk.

Justin Amirkhani is not your average video game journalist. He has contributed to quite a few publications including Kill Screen, PC Gamer, Official Xbox Magazine, and EDGE. More importantly, Justin is a sort of nomad. He has no home of his own, and little in the way of money. Justin has, since early 2012, been making a trek from Los Angeles, California to Toronto, Canada; he has lived for the last five months off the kindness and donations of strangers.

The following is an interview I had over email with Justin.

Why did you decide to go on this cross-country trip- what did you think you might be able to gain from visiting various developers before you started?

Despite having plenty of opportunities to talk to developers during the course of my career as a freelance games journalist, I've always been disappointed by the fact most conversations with them are squarely focused on the product they are releasing at the time. I'm far more curious to find out what sort of person makes a game like Gears of War than learning what sorts of weapons are in the new version. Visiting developers in their natural environments is a way of getting closer to their personal lives, finding out what drives them, and better understanding why they got into this business in the first place.

That's very interesting, actually. I'm assuming that we both view games in a similar way (as a commercial art form). I feel with a lot of art you don't truly appreciate it until you acquire a better understanding of the artists. Does meeting the developers often change how you view their games? Are there any examples where you came away with a whole new respect for a game after meeting the people who made it?

This may seem to go against what I just said, but I don't think meeting the developers changes my appreciation for the final product. One of the most important things I've learned during my journey was that motivation is often irrelevant when evaluating the end result. It doesn't matter if an indie developer pours their heart and soul into a game if it still sucks, and it doesn't matter if Sequel Shooter 2012 is produced by automatons under the rule of a mega corporation if it's lots of fun.

If I've gained appreciation for anything, it's how developers balance and live their lives. The most incredible talent I've had the fortune to meet on this trek have also been some of the most incredible people. I have an intense interest in individuals who can devote themselves wholeheartedly to a project and still maintain an active and fulfilled lifestyle outside of their work.

I'm curious about what a cross country trip to video game developers entails from a "living" perspective. On your blog there's a sidebar with ways to donate and ways people can help out. I'm curious in what way (if any) the help of others has played into making your trek possible?

This trip would be impossible without the donations from my readers, hospitality from strangers, and people just generally being amazing. I'm a writer by trade, that's about as close to perma-broke as you can get. The donations from my readers have funded everything from my bus pass, to basic foods, to medicine when I got sick. People have offered me free places to stay, given me a meal or two, and helped me carry on. Without all of this, I would have had to stop a long time ago.

The other thing is, these donations really give me a confidence that people are enjoying my work and have similar goals to me. It shows that people are interested in the sorts of stories I want to write, and that makes me feel a whole lot less alone when I think there's no real place for my weird mix of content.

The fact that writers like you and me are almost pre-destined for perma-broke status is one I try to keep in the back of my mind.

Where are you now, how far have you gone, and where are you going next?

I just returned to Toronto for a quick pit stop. My original journey was set to be two months, but I've been living on the road for nearly five now. I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen next - I'm spending some time with family, at least until Thanksgiving - but I've officially got no home of my own and I expect to keep myself that way for at least a little while longer.

(Justin has traveled from Toronto to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to San Diego, San Diego to Raleigh, Raleigh to New York City, New York City to Cleveland and back into Toronto. A distance of roughly 6,500 miles.)

If you had to name one person or place that has affected you the most on your journey, where would it be? How has this single experience changed you?

That's an incredibly hard question to answer because there have been so many events, places, and people that have shaped my current mindset. One of the most pivotal experiences though came near the end of my current leg. I met a man named Sam in a hostel in Seattle. He's from Wales and also a writer - not about video games though - and we got along. One day he fell in love with this girl who was cycling from Vancouver to Panama and came home all upset he wasn't going to see her again as his flight left from San Francisco in a few days.

Rather than let him sulk about the situation, I demanded we go chasing after her. Together we hitched down the Oregon coast to nowhere towns and met some fantastic people on the way. We had an entire small town looking for his dream girl and had the time of our lives doing it. We finally did find her, on a beach at sunset in the middle of nowhere and it was magical. It proved to me that sometimes, injecting life with a little foolishness and romanticism can make it so much better. Reality's what you make of it, chasing lofty ideas should be part of it.

Your project is attracting more than just gamers, obviously. Do you think people might be interested in it because of ideals embedded in Western culture, or is the appeal simpler?

It's true, my audience is now very split. I have the usual video game playing crowd, but now I've also got this group of people who know nothing about games and just like hearing about the travel. My favourite thing though is that these two groups are starting to cross-pollinate, with the gamers learning a little about travel life and the travelers learning a little about gaming.

Do you think that people are attracted to this nomadic, Bob Dylan-y idea of someone that drifts throughout the country taking in the world?

Absolutely. I know I am. There's no doubt in my mind the likes of Dylan, Kerouac, Thompson, and others have played a role in my decision to give up my stuff and go live on the road, but by no means does it make it any less attractive to me. I can't speak for everyone, but the idea of being absolutely free from all the machinations of life is what draws me in. There's an intense liberation that comes with an open path before you, realizing you can do anything you want, anywhere. It's an incredibly romantic idea, so much so that it's consumed my life. In that way it's easy for me to understand why people like reading about it.

Have you thought about writing a book about your experiences, or something like that? I have never heard of something like this in the industry before, and I imagine a book on it would be a smash-hit among gamers.

There is a book in the works. I've written part of it on the road, and now that I'm back in Toronto - at least for a little while - I'll be putting most of my energy into finishing it. There are a lot of stories that I've been itching to tell that just don't work well in blog form and based on the reaction I've received so far from the project, I'm inclined to agree that a lot of gamers would find it interesting.

The problem for me is finding that sweet balance between my experiences as a gamer and my experience as a nomad. It's harder to find than you'd think, but hopefully there's an audience for it. That, and finding money. Haha. I'm literally down to whatever's in my wallet and nothing more these days.

Just to wrap this up on a game note, have you discovered what you wanted to about game developers?

If there's one thing I've learned about game developers, it's that they are the most talented and hard working individuals in the entertainment world. The ones that impress me most though are those that manage to lead unique and interesting lives outside of their work despite game development taking up so much of their time. I've always been a fan of developers because they followed a passion of theirs to its logical conclusion, but truly admire those who don't let that idea stop with their work. It's the ones who pull crazy hours in the office and then still have time for families, hobbies, and adventures of their own when they step away from the keyboard that I wish I could be more like.

(If you want to learn more about Justin's journey, visit his blog: http://gamerunplugged.com/)

You've Got Friends In Them...

Light Gamebeast23456 — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:47:00 GMT

I have to admit, sometimes I feel like a hack. No, it's not because I will compare Beyond Good & Evil to the wars in the Middle East. I love talking about video games, and if it goes into territory of interpretation of political messages- I'm game. I feel like a hack sometimes because of the huge amount of important games I've never played. I simply haven't been around the block enough times to play all the games I should. Slowly, through the miracles of the Internet, I'm cutting down on my backlog. This feeling of ineptitude and self-doubt prompted me to finally play Hideo Kojima's Playstation One classic Metal Gear Solid.

******************************************************************************************************

"Otacon: Have you ever... loved someone?
Solid Snake: That's what you came to ask?
Otacon: No, I was wondering if even soldiers fall in love.
Solid Snake: What are you trying to say?
Otacon: I want to ask you. Do you think love can bloom even on a battlefield?
Solid Snake: Yeah. I do. I think at any time, any place, people can fall in love with each other. But if you love someone, you have to be able to protect them."

Metal Gear Solid's story is a Westernized, military-spy-thriller romp fit for popcorn consumption and emphatic bro-high-fives. It's the sort of affair that, in any other medium, would be best enjoyed with friends and drinks (alcoholic and otherwise.) The game is both a campy adventure with a roster of characters that are referred to only by ***-sounding code names (Solid Snake, Psycho Mantis, Revolver Ocelot) and a somewhat long-winded indictment of America's military actions and worldwide politics.

"Revolver Ocelot: We live in a sad age. Imperialism, totalitarianism, perestroika... 20th century Russia had its share of problems, but at least they had an ideology. Russia today has nothing."

Humans are social creatures. Generally speaking, we don't do well without each other. Metal Gear Solid recognizes this fact and plays on it to emotionally attach you in ways that you wouldn't expect- if you let it.

The main method of communication you have with the outside world on your one-man-Alaskan mission is a device called a Codec. This Codec (tuned to the frequency of your eardrum) is a source of communication between yourself and your allies. From a mechanical standpoint, the Codec is handy in that it opens up windows that otherwise wouldn't be open (for example, you can get information you might not know about your mission). However, it is not a purely mechanical part of the game.

You see, the people on the other end of the Codec aren't cold and heartless military bastards with crewcuts and cigars constantly being crunched.. They aren't as shallow as you might expect from talking heads in a video game. For example the tech girl, Mei Ling, makes a habit of inundating you with information ranging from Chinese proverbs to Shakespearean quotations when you call her. She explains to you in one scene her dreams of being a pilot; dreams that were crushed by a hesitance to kill and poor eyesight. Your commander, Campbell, provides necessary information and support when things get hairy. In a game defined by long-windedness, the brief characterizations of your accomplices are refreshingly concise.

Metal Gear Solid makes you want to care about fulfilling your mission. Your compadres on the other end of the Codec constantly remind you of your importance, your indispensability. You are able to learn more about your allies, if you want to. They aren't just talking heads- they are people, people who care about what happens to you.

Metal Gear Solid was a revolutionary game both from a gameplay and storytelling perspective. However, I have the unique (and not entirely pristine) perspective of playing MGS after it revolutionized storytelling in polygonal games. What really stands out to me is the focus the game puts on interpersonal relationships with coadjutors, and the fact that unlike every other focus the game seems to have, it doesn't beat you over the head with it's existence. I wish more games focused on side character's actual character, not just their gameplay functions.

(This article was originally posted on http://thearmchairnerd.blogspot.com/ You can follow the blog there, and I'd be really happy if you did.)

The Armchair Gamer Podcast Season Two Episode Four: There Are No "Right" Choices

Light Gamebeast23456 — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 17:02:00 GMT

On this installment of The Armchair Gamer Podcast I memorialize the recently-deceased Paul Steed. I briefly lament the fact that publishers aren't marketing hard enough, because I can't remember when anything is slated to release. Also, I talk with friend of the show Nick Schneider about Telltale's The Walking Dead.

Listen To The Show At: http://theamrchairgamer.podomatic.com/

Read The Blog At: http://thearmchairnerd.blogspot.com/

(Especially my The Walking Dead post): http://thearmchairnerd.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-walking-deads-abysmal-morality.html

Follow The Show On Twitter At: http://twitter.com/AGPShow

Follow Nick On Twitter At : http://twitter.com/TOGNick

Also The Episode of "Games **BRAAAHHHH**" referenced is here: http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3182486

Listen To Old Episodes: http://archive.org/details/TheArmchairGamerPodcast

The Music

The Walking Dead OST "Alive Inside"

The Walking Dead's Abysmal Morality

Light Gamebeast23456 — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 15:26:00 GMT

This post contains spoilers pertaining to Telltale Game's The Walking Dead; I try to withhold any spoilers I find unnecessary to share, but at the same time I have come to the conclusion that proper discussion of this game requires me to reveal some plot points and scenarios. Read at your own discretion. Originally posted on http://thearmchairnerd.blogspot.com/

Morality is an elusive subject. Everyone has something to say about it: religion points to dogmatic books as an ultimate moral guide, politicians point to ideals between individualism and societal cohesion as a way to do what's right. Horrific crimes in America, like killing your wife or slicing off a thief’s hand, are hardly out of place in many Middle-Eastern countries. Normal social activity a century or a half-century ago (like lynching people of different ethnicities or beating a non-submissive spouse) is now widely regarded as disgusting and immoral. We debate about gay marriage today, and tomorrow politician's careers might be ruined by merely mentioning a disagreement with marriage equality. Our culture has sanctioned genocide and condemned it in the same era. No one can agree on what's moral.

Yet so many video games (ex: Mass Effect or inFAMOUS) address issues of morality in extremely childish ways: a moral decision in a standard role-playing-game could have been picked out of a "Choose Your Own Adventure" novel. Somehow, video game designers have managed to take one of humanities most basic questions-how should we treat each other-and bastardized it to the point of silliness and triviality. This is not to say that said designers are childish, of course, many of them have the best intentions. The simple fact of the matter is that the way most games operate isn't conducive to giving players real dilemmas to chew on and real consequences for their actions. To borrow a rather telling quote from a 2009 Gamespot article (http://www.gamespot.com/features/black-or-white-making-moral-choices-in-video-games-6240211/)

"Morality is not a black-and-white concept. Reality is very seldom as simple as a choice between good and evil; the spectrum of moral behaviours is as complicated and consequential as our emotions. Instead of mirroring this complexity and including moral choices that lead to genuine in-game consequences, video games often do the opposite--they present a watered-down version of moral choice that ultimately results in players having to choose between good or evil: to harvest or not to harvest (BioShock), to be “paragon” or “renegade” (Mass Effect), to kill innocents or to save them (inFamous), to have a halo or devil horns (Fable II)."

There are no "right choices" in The Walking Dead; within half an hour of starting the first episode (of five) your character (Lee) is forced to choose between saving the life of a young man you have just met the night before,or the son of a man you hardly know from an onslaught of "walkers". I saved the son (Ducky) and was forced to leave the farm I had been sheltered in . I would've left the farm anyway, but having the father of the man I let die kick me out under such circumstances really socked me in the gut. And it just gets harder from there.

There is something very organic about the way that players can affect the narrative with their choices. Each choice you make has an impact, whether it be catastrophic or almost minute. One of the gameplay options The Walking Dead has are little text notifiers that outline how people mentally react to your dialogue options. Please, turn this off; playing the game solely from Lee's perspective and seeing how people respond to you through the story itself is much more satisfying and is a better test of Telltale's narrative chops.

Another example from Episode One is a scene where you encounter a survivor of the zombie outbreak who is holed up in a motel. One of your group members finds this woman and enlists your help to get her out of her room. When you do eventually lure the woman out of her sanctuary, it is revealed that the woman is mentally unstable and believes she is infected with whatever makes the “walkers” (read: zombies) what they are. Eventually, it comes down to two choices: one: you voluntarily give her a gun- a means of death on her own terms, or two: you try to keep the gun out of her hands. Regardless of what you do, the woman does kill herself; your decisions don't always matter. What does matter is the fact that how you handle the situation determines what people think of you. I didn't give her the gun, and was properly scrutinized for withholding a chance to let her be free, like she wanted. Not only that, the means she used to get the gun put our group in jeopardy- jeopardy that could have been avoided had I just let her do what she wanted.

The Walking Dead lets you own your decisions. A central element of the source material is the idea that characters being pushed to their extremes never make the "right" choice. Your actions in the game aren't rewarded by Karma points or some other arbitrary tallying system instituted to constantly remind you that you are the good guy- the branching paths aren't sectioned into "good" and "evil"; you play the game the way that best appeases your conscience.

In the aforementioned suicidal-woman scenario there was no clearly good or clearly evil choice to be made. If another human being is in pain and wants an escape- than it is fundamentally hard for me to deny it to them. Trying to stop a suicide may feel morally superior in the moment, but at the same time it's a hard pill to swallow, especially under the specific circumstances in the game. And since the game gives no absolutely positive or absolutely negative feedback, the jury is still out. The Walking Dead toyed with me enough that I'm still mulling over whether or not I make the right decision every time I play the game.

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This post was originally made on Thearmchairnerd.blogspot.com; check out the site for more articles and stuff.

Ouya! (A Co-blog Feat. DarkeonWarlord)

Light Gamebeast23456 — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:04:00 GMT

Yesterday, Ouya set the Kickstarter world on fire. The Android-based video game console poised to take on Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony has raised over three million dollars; the goal of the find was to raise nine-hundred fifty thousand dollars. (http://tinyurl.com/6wj5bxo) The intent of the Ouya console is to breach the gap between the mobile and console gaming space, and that idea is very exciting. Here to join me to discuss the Ouya is GIO's own DarkeonWarlord.

Gamebeast23456: "So, as I write this Ouya has already raised over three million dollars, much more than their 950,000 goal. And they still have almost a month to go. The weird thing about Ouya and Kickstarter projects in general, is how little people actually know about the product. Sure, they released technical specs and whatnot, but the draw of the system still seems kinda unclear. Whaf type of games are we going to see on the console? Have any developers tried to play with the system? With the big three (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo) it would be obvious who has used the system, but not so with Ouya."

DarkeonWarlord: "Based on what they've told us so far, we know that the console will run on a modified version of the Andriod operating system, popularized in mobile phones and tablets. From the screens they have showed, we can see that games such as Minecraft and Shadowgun (a recent popular mobile game) run on it (or appear to). So you can expect to play all sorts of games on it, everything from Angry Birds to Mass Effect: Infiltrator. But what does this mean for the big three? What kind of efffect will the $99 dollar console have on the $300 titans we play on today?

Gamebeast23456: "Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are gate-keepers for their consoles. They have the right (and the responsibility) to regulate what games are released on their console. Ouya is trying to throw out that model of gatekeeping and instead only require that games have some free-to-play component (which is a rather vague specificity.) One has to wonder how content control will work for Ouya, or if it will at all? Will we just see a flood of junk that you have to sift through?"

DarkeonWarlord: "No matter what happens, Ouya will still have to help regulate the content that appears on their console. Without control, the marketplace would be a mess to navigate. What they are doing instead is creating a console that allows independent developers to create games with lower cost and no publishing deals with major companies like EA and Activision. And because of the open nature of the Android OS, games would be much easier to make."

Gamebeast23456: "Also, you have to worry about security. If you are using an OS as open and hackable as Ouya is, security seems like an important issue. They are trying to settle the Wild West with this console, bridging the gap between mobile and console (which I've been waiting for forever) and it won't be easy. I'm almost sure that Ouya will be very faulty for the first couple of years, just from a software/security standpoint. In fact, I can almost guarantee that Ouya's launch will be very problematic."

DarkeonWarlord: "Precisely. In their Kickstarter video, they distinctly mention that they're keeping the console open so the hacker-types can have their fun as well. This would make it easy for them to disrupt play in online games, or potentially steal user data. This can become a major problem, and I see them having to incorporate high- level security to protect these. Security like that does NOT come cheap. "

Gamebeast23456: "Another trend in the console market is the idea that game consoles need to be home entertainment hubs. In the Kickstarter description, they hinted at a similar idea: "Because OUYA is based on Android, any app developer could publish their Android app to OUYA. The possibilities are limitless, and conversations with potential partners are already underway." This almost seems like an Android TV box, in a way."

DarkeonWarlord: "People would be able to tweet, check Facebook, surf the internet and watch Netflix without paying gobs of money for devices that can. I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to watch Nyan Cat in glorious 50 inch HD glory. This would allow the OUYA to compete with not only game consoles, but smart TV services as well, like Apple TV, using apps like DirecTV. And its low price point would help it sell more to the masses than nearly any other product."

Gamebeast23456: "The low price point actually interests me. I'm curious as to how they are going to make money on the system. The hardware and the licensing fees for using Android must make up a significant portion of the "low" price point. Will the money be made out the backend, or will the gains be narrow?"

DarkeonWarlord: "It's too early to tell at this point. Based on the specs, it seems that they will be able to make a small amount of money with each console. To me, it seems the game sales will be the main source of income. Their new system, where each game must have a demo of some sort, is actually quite ingenious. Being able to play any game like that will convince them to buy these games, since I'm assuming most will be in the $10-$20 range."

Gamebeast23456: "Ouya almost sounds like it intends not only to breach the mobile/console gap, but the console/PC gap. The sort of free, open market PC gamers are used to seems to be migrating to consoles through Ouya. This console seems like it will finally give non-PC gamers a taste of PC freedom."

DarkeonWarlord: "Its low price point and accesibility will make this one of the sleeper hits of the generation. With its simple to use Android operating system and easy-development interface, I see the OUYA changing the gaming landscape. This could very well be the future."

Gamebeast23456: "Not only that, but being able to mod the console makes me think we might be able to build the consoles how we want them. Maybe we could even design Ouya's that are higher-powered than other consoles. I think this console, if it succeeds, will be a jumping off point for the future of consoles.

Casting Call!

Light Gamebeast23456 — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:16:00 GMT

As you may or may not know, the Armchair Gamer Podcast has been undergoing some changes in the last calendar year. What began as an irreverent, off-topic show with low sound quality and little effort has turned into a focused, calm(er) look at the world of video games. Basically, my idea for the show going forward is:

What if NPR made a video game show?

You see, though the video game podcast space is very crowded, I feel that AGP does (or is in the process of doing) something more unique. Rather than featuring a loud, crowded roundtable chatting about games and the news of the week, I am trying to offer a one-man show that uses the voices of others (through interviews and such) coupled with my own to seriously discuss not only the biggest game news, but the art of games itself.

Today, as I was arguing (rather heatedly) about some serious sexist issues in the industry on Twitter, I realized how little I knew about these issues. I realized how much I didn't know, but I knew others did.

I want to bring that wealth of knowledge to the podcast space as well. I want to be able to talk to people who know about the issues rather than just try to pretend to know myself.

That's where anyone whose interested comes in.

I am looking currently for a woman who has some knowledge about feminism and such issues to talk on the show about the some of the issues that plague females in the industry. I'd like to have someone who has some experience in the realm of games journalism to talk to over controversies regarding that. If you are a programmer, perhaps you might like to spend a little time on the show now and again?

If anyone with a unique message about games, or who is interested in coming on, wants to join me- feel free to say so. You can write a comment if you want, send a Direct Message, Tweet me (@Gamebeast23456) or email me armchairnerd@gmail.com.

With the help of gamers, I hope to make a more dynamic show that people can enjoy.

Thanks in advance from Braden Fox

GaMe Week #10: The Flames of Apathy

Light Gamebeast23456 — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 23:24:00 GMT

I got off probation today. I can't believe I was so scared to leave my house for a year; when I look back at it, it seems so silly. I sat alone for days on end, thinking about all the ways I could kill myself, end the misery. I watched Liberty City, and the world, go up in smoke; everything around me was consumed by flames of stupidity and apathy.

I celebrated the occasion, of course. I picked up a hooker down by the docks, first one in a year and a half. She was young, brunette, a crushed soul in an empty body; she was practically begging me for release. We went in an alleyway made by two office buildings; she got so wrapped up in her job, she never even noticed when the cold silencer of my pistol pushed into her ribs. She never knew what hit her, and her last expression was one of businesslike disinterest, even whores don’t care these days. I felt I should kill a prostitute to celebrate my life no longer being run by one.

After that, I cleaned out my car and drove it into the river, for good measure. I bailed at the last second, right before the car slid off the bridge (tearing through the rails like paper) and plunged into the hungry, cold water. As the tail lights slowly sank into the dark water, I thought about the whole world sinking, and how everyone was oblivious to it.

As I was walking home, I thought somebody was following me. I tried to shake him off by going through alleys that hadn't even been used by the bums in ages. I ran through shops, through bars. But this guy, or at least I think it was the same guy every time I looked backward, kept on following me. Like some pesky fly that spotted a picnic in progress and wasn’t phased by waving arms and rolled up newspapers.

Finally, I confronted the man. He was sitting in his car in a restaurant parking lot, smoking a cigarette. For a minute, I considered the dozen ways I could break in, incapacitate the man, and ignite his car with the cigarette or its lighter. I decided it wasn’t worth the wait and the effort. I didn't wait for him to even acknowledge the fact that he was watching me as I got closer, I just drew my pistol and looked straight into the man’s eyes as he finally looked up from his cigarette. I broke the windshield with three bullets, and two more taps on the trigger left his scheming little head a meaty ruin. I don’t try to push my luck, but I hoped that maybe the cigarette would fall to the floor of his car and burn it all around him. I didn’t wait to see if fate would smile on me, I made a run for my home in the shadows.

No one messes with the Stranger.

The cops tried to chase me, but you could tell they weren't that enthused. I evaded them, and they lost me in less than a block. Prostitutes follow the money, and those specific hookers were smart enough to know I had none for them. Besides, they wouldn’t want to acknowledge they were following me. As I walked home, I thought of the girl I had killed earlier... It's funny, in a way, seeing death; suddenly everything that matters so much to a person is reduced to an inconsequential breeze, a grain of sand. When they see the gun, the life in their eyes seem to drain out and what’s left in there is something strange, alien, and yet so familiar. It’s the look of rage that any predator has in it’s eyes before pouncing upon prey.

The world is so used to the death and the pain of others; the people who are glorified in the movies are those who can inflict the most pain possible, those who deal the most death. The only people that really understand what it feels like to take a life are the ones who do it. I'm going to change that. I'm going to shock the world out of apathy, I'm going to force them to be remorseful and pitiful and feel every emotion other than happiness and loneliness and emptiness. I will kill innocent children, or mothers, or cops- I will destroy everything I can until the b*stards finally feel something.

Tomorrow, I'm going to visit Raymond Johnson. He was my probation officer. I can tell that dealing with murders is just a cushy desk job for him; he is the most calloused of us all, he is madder than me- more of a psychopath than I could ever be. Johnson doesn't value lives, he doesn't even pretend to. The world to him, and all the horror in it, is nothing more than a series of possible paychecks and people to exploit.

When he stares down the barrel of my gun, I hope the thing I see is a scared man who finally understands why I shouldn’t be free, and why the world isn't a paycheck.

Author's Note: To be honest, I imagine I was channeling a bit of Brave New World and a bit of Watchmen into this story, a combination that I enjoyed brewing up. I hope it interested you, and fan-fic on!

Armchair Gamer Podcast Season Two Ep. 3: Saving Lara Croft

Light Gamebeast23456 — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:45:00 GMT

Ladies and gentlemen, the Armchair Gamer Podcast is back after a three-month long hiatus! On this episode, I talk about E3's disappointments, SNES games and the intellectual language of games, I Am Alive and Tomb Raider! I hope you enjoy the show! Listen to the show at http://theamrchairgamer.podomatic.com/

Music:

The Advantage: "Moon" from Duck Tales

"Tomb Raider Theme" By Martin Iveson

"I Am Alive Theme" by Jeff Broadbent

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/gamebeast23456

Listen to old episodes at: http://archive.org/details/TheArmchairGamerPodcast

A Short Story called "Blood Hounds"

Light Gamebeast23456 — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 16:56:00 GMT

A few people have been posting some short stories on GI, and since I have a few of my own I thought I'd post one of them. It's called "Blood Hounds", I've had the idea for a while and I just wrote it up. It's not even a Word Document page long, but a lot of what I write isn't. I hope you enjoy it.

“Blood Hounds”

You can hear them howling in the distance. They make a low, hurt sound, halfway between a growl and a moan. I can picture them even now; they prowl in a deadly pack, sniffing my blood off the solid snow. Their breath is probably frosty, their gazes mad. I have to admire them, even now. Who would’ve thought mad dogs let off their leash would be so organized, so ruthless, so efficient. A pack of hungry black monsters howl; the sound of their wails is carried by the frigid wind.

I glance at my leg, only for a moment. The last pack of hounds did a real good job on it. They cut through the thick material of my pants all the way to the bone. The bone is obscured by blood. The fresh blood flows over the staler blood, staining my leg and the frost beneath me. It doesn’t even hurt-it never did. I’d like to imagine that’s a blessing, it probably isn’t. My other leg is showing the first stages of frostbite; I covered the leg with everything I could find, and a small fire blazes beside me- but it’s still being rendered useless.

Running here was an ordeal. It wasn’t painful, at least not on my leg, but by the time I find a small cave to hide in my entire body was bruised and cold, my clothes were wet and my body temperature was dropping faster than I could hope to bring it up. The cave isn’t deep enough to keep me entirely out of the cold; icy wind still assaults my face every couple of minutes. Heavy frost flakes slash at me, millions of cold pinpricks that I long sense stopped feeling any pain from.

Time passes, and I’m still bleeding. What feels like hours couldn’t be more than minutes, or else the amount of blood I lost would’ve killed me. The howling is closer still. It’s slightly obscured by the wind, but I know they can’t be far off. My life plays in my head in slow motion; I watch silently as my life runs out of a gash in my leg. I think tears are pouring from my eyes, but that may just be melted frost before it freezes again.

The wolves are close now, and with them comes a painful end at the hands of the men who stole everything I’ve ever had from me, except my life. I am going to finish writing in this journal now, the pages are getting too wet and what little strength I have is fading in the haze of snow all around me. I take my revolver in my left hand. It has one bullet. If there’s a god out there, please let this bullet be enough. I stare down the barrel, thinking of everything I’ve lost. They won’t take my life from me. I hold my finger over the trigger

Announcing My Newest Project: The Video Game Music Hour!

Light Gamebeast23456 — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:35:00 GMT

For my entire video game career, I've had an affinity for game music. As a kid, I was entranced by the melodic Nintendo music with it's catchy tunes and unrelenting charm. I would find myself humming along all the time to game music, often in uncomfortable social situations. As I've matured, I've begun to realize how video game music actively influences how I enjoy games.

I have another affinity, online broadcasting. I am a lover (and maker) of podcasts, and I want to be a more active part of the online media revolution, in whatever way I can. Tomorrow, I'm going to combine these two love-affairs into one, with my new online radio show: The Video Game Music Hour. Each week (hopefully) I'm going to dig up a selection of game tracks I love from the 1980's and 90's, and play some of those.

However, that's not all I am planning.

If you know of a great video game track that you want me to play, I plan for you to be able to call in on Skype. You can make a request of any track from the '80's-90's you want to hear- and I'll try to dig it up and play it. I hope to introduce people to interesting older music- and classics.

If you are interested the show will be on at 7 PM (Central Time) at: ustream.tv/channel/the-video-game-hour

You can call in, my Skype name is: Gamebeastiscool

Also, I plan to put the recorded show on Youtube.

All support is appreciated.