video games

Game Design Talk: Exploding Barrels and Other Video Game Clichés

JettLeave a comment

I’m on pace to finish Uncharted in the next few days, and I’ve had a really good time with it. If my queue of PS3 games to play wasn’t so big right now, I would have likely jumped to the sequel immediately. There are however, a few very specific gripes I have with this game, and one of them I wanted to use as a jumping-off point for a bigger discussion. For a game that at times tiptoes into the realm of realism, there are some very specific video game clichés that really take me out of the moment. In particular, I can’t help but shake my head every time I see strategically placed explosive barrels in the environment.
Continue reading →

Return of the King of Kong

JettLeave a comment

A few years ago, my girlfriend and I rented The King of Kong documentary. It totally caught us by surprise. I was expecting a video game documentary and got an entertaining and nerdy equivalent of Rocky. You couldn’t help but love Steve Wiebe as he gained, lost, then regained the Donkey Kong high score world record from the clutches of Billy Mitchell, who comes off as the biggest jerk in the world in this movie.

The title has switched hands a few times since the making of this movie, but the latest move will bring joy to anyone that has ever watched The King of Kong. Steve Wiebe is once again, the Donkey Kong high score world record holder.

Continue reading →

In Third Person Gets Featured on Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Jett1 Comment

Getting featured on the front page of WordPress.com was awesome. Getting featured on the Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog? Highly unexpected, but also awesome. Why would a university law school want anything to do with In Third Person?

Continue reading →

Let’s Talk About Collector’s Editions of Video Games

Jett1 Comment

Back in 2007, the hype surrounding Halo 3 was massive. This was going to be the biggest and best-selling media launch of all-time. In particular, the hardest of hardcore gamers were salivating over the Legendary Edition of Halo 3, which featured of all things, a miniature replica of Master Chief’s helmet. Video game collector’s editions were still new at the time, and we’d never seen anything this epic (or expensive) before.

Part of the appeal in the Legendary Edition was the fact that it was supposed to be super rare. Instead, it stands as one of the biggest jokes in the short history of video game collector’s editions. I can name multiple stores in my city that have these in stock right now, collecting dust on the shelf at 1/3 of the original asking price. Even at that price point, retailers still can’t rid of them. If you paid $150 for it at launch in hopes of getting something truly special, I bet you’re bitter that the monetary and financial value of this set has dropped dramatically.

Continue reading →

Girlfriend Gaming: God of War Collection

Jett3 Comments

For the last few months, my girlfriend has made it clear to me that she’s wanted to play God of War. Each time she’s said that to me, I’ve given her the same puzzled look. When I think about video games she likes, I think of stuff like Just Dance, Crash Team Racing and the Raving Rabbids series. Based on what I knew of her taste at the time, I thought a series where players kill thousands of monsters in brutal fashion wasn’t up her alley.

I picked up God of War Collection recently for two reasons. One, because I’ve been curious about this series for a while now and two, because I wanted to see if my girlfriend would actually get into it. I’ve yet to start this game on my own, but she’s already killed Medusa and can’t wait to play more.

Continue reading →

I Just Discovered Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune From the Depths of 2007

Jett1 Comment

Long before I owned a Playstation 3, I was excited to play Uncharted. All of the preview coverage of this game made it look beyond everything else out there. Alas, I was not about to drop upwards of $600 on a video game system at the time, especially when I had just gotten an XBOX 360. My excitement to play this series grew with the release of Uncharted 2, which many hail as the best game from 2009.

Now that I finally have a PS3 in the house, Uncharted was one of the first games I picked up. I just stopped at level 6 to write my impressions so far, which for the most part, are great.

Continue reading →

Video Game Characters Worth Dating If They Existed In Real Life

Jett3 Comments

Months after I posted my initial impressions of Mass Effect 2, this post continues to drive a lot of traffic to my site. Not because people want to read about how the game plays, but because they want to find sexy pictures of Shepherd’s crew member and possible love interest, Miranda. I know this because my search engine metrics always have Miranda’s name at or near the top of the list. I am well aware of the stigma that goes with those who are attracted to fictional, digitized characters. If you’re here for those reasons, I’m not here to judge.

Instead, I thought it would be fun to write about video game characters worth dating if they existed in real life. Video game characters of male, female, robot, alien or whatever orientation are often hyper–sexualized in appearance, but are paper thin in terms of character and personality. Most characters would make for a great fling, but a terrible significant other. With this post, I wanted to highlight a few characters that may be worth more than a one night stand.

Continue reading →

Pick Up Post: Little Big Planet

Jett1 Comment

I know I’m late to the party on this one. With Little Big Planet 2 set to drop in a few weeks, I’m only giving the game a fair shake now. I’ve played it a few times at demo kiosks, but playing it that way hasn’t really grabbed me for some reason. However, now that I’ve been able to start the experience from the beginning and play it as intended, I’m liking it a whole lot more. I haven’t dived into the creation tools or user-created levels yet, but I can talk about my early experiences in the story mode.
Continue reading →

Hiding My Video Game ‘Shame’

Jett1 Comment

Imagine yourself at a job interview. You’re nearing the end of the process, and this question (or a version of it) is asked to you: “What do you do in your spare time?”

I’m all for pushing towards mass acceptance of the video game medium, but would you tell this potential employer that you play video games? Having been through a number of interviews at ad agencies over the past year, I can tell you exactly what I say. I start by saying that I like to spend time with my family. Then I talk about how I play musical instruments. Then I talk about how I like to blog. Then, should the employer want to know more, I mention video games in passing, usually in the context of, “The video game Rock Band helped me learn how to play real drums.” All of these statements are true, but I admit to being a bit…selective.

Continue reading →

I Got a Playstation 3. Now What?

Jett3 Comments

It’s been a few weeks now since I got my hands on a Playstation 3. I’ve got it all hooked up, got my PSN account set up and I’ve got a few games to start me off. So far I have Little Big Planet, Uncharted, God of War Collection, Super Street Fighter IV, 3D Dot Game Heroes and Street Fighter Alpha, which I picked up on the Playstation Network.

My question to you, In Third Person readers, is what do I do now?

Continue reading →